To Be That Someone That You're With
by desist
Summary: One day Zoro gets some terrible news; his father raped a young man. He moves in with his uncle and gets a surprise the next morning. The young man, Sanji, is his new neighbour. ZoSan, SmoAce, mentions of non con.
1. Black Sheep

**Well, Good morning**** everybody! I recently discovered that mankind is able to write fantastic Zoro x Sanji fanfics. I have read my fair share and I decided to make one thing many persons have done before me: write a long, epic, AU Zoro/Sanji fic :3**

**We'll see how good it will turn out to be: all I hope is that this fic will deliver some happiness to all those fans I know is out there!**

**I will try to find a beta reader because with my English that is needed. I'm from Sweden and everybody knows that Swedish girls are blonde, a bit stupid but damn good-looking! XD**

**Note: The title of this fic is taken from a line from the song "Someone that you're with", by Nickelback. This song has been an incredible source of imagination and inspiration even if it really doesn't have anything to do with this plot... (As I said, a little stupid ^^")**

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece and I don't make any money by writing this fic. Yet.**

**Thanks to my beta(s) MintyTwins! Great and fast job!  
**

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_**To Be The Someone That You're W**__**ith**_

_Chapter 1 – Black sheep_

Zoro sat quietly, with his forehead resting in his hands and his elbows on the mahogany desk in front of him. Everything around him it was buzzing with life; a telephone was ringing, one man was talking to another, and yet another man was giving quick orders about going to an address Zoro had never heard of. Through the wall you could hear the sirens. The sign above the green haired teenager said: "Grand Line Police Departemnt".

He breathed deeply and tried to calm himself down. Opposite him sat a young woman with glasses. Her black hair reached just down to her shoulders and constantly came in the way of her sight. With a shaky movement she kept pulling it back behind her ears, only for it to fall back down again. She looked at the teenager with eyes filled with pity and compassion, and wondered if she dared to pick up the pack of tissues she kept in one of her drawers. Her eyes darted from the drawer to his hidden face and back again. She hated situations like this. Kids should never get involved in this, even if they were almost adults. Almost at the age of eighteen, the man who sat opposite her was one of those people where the word "macho" actually did fit in rather well—at least if you went by the looks. The muscles she could catch a glimpse of under the t-shirt were sturdier than the ordinary man's. There were many long workouts behind them. The eyes, which were currently hidden by his hands, were dark— almost black. A hawk's eyes, she thought for herself. He was sunburnt, which showed that he had recently spent a long time under the sun in a warmer climate.

The woman looked out at the foul autumn weather. A strong wind blew through the trees and the clouds bore their ever darker color. She shivered and wished that she also would be able to take a break from the demanding work as a police assistant and leave the town for a few weeks. She definitely didn't want to be here, now. Grand Line was nice and all, but Hawaii or the Bahamas was oh-so tempting. Hell, even going home and lighting up a warm fire; maybe picking an old classic from the book shelf was tempting. Something fitting for the time of the year. "The Call of the Wild", perhaps? She shook her head and returned to the brutal reality. The man in front of her needed to get everything cleared out, and then... then she would wait and see. Pleased with that idea, she carefully reached her hand into her drawer, picked up the box with tissues, and placed them daringly on the desk. They went unnoticed.

"Mr. Roronoa, how are you?" she asked with a straight voice. She hated, _hated_ this part of her work, but sometimes it helped being professional and distant. The sad truth was that a complete stranger had to tell him all of this, and it might only get worse if she tried to show him pity and sympathy.

Zoro shook his head, not answering the question with words. Earlier that day he'd heard some traumatizing news.

"I know that it is hard to understand, but it is our duty to inform children if their parents or guardian commit a crime. And when it comes to a serious offence such as this, we at the police station decided that it was best to let you know immediately."

While the police woman spoke Zoro sat and shook his head, thoughts he could not control circling in his mind. The thoughts echoed inside his head, replaying the shocking news. That horrible, ground shaking information.

"As you can understand, your father won't be home tonight, since he will spend the night, well… more than that, even, in prison."

He wanted her to stop, to be quiet. Something.

"Now, I don't want to speak too much about the trial, but of course there will be indictment and with this strong evidence and the witness..."

Zoro snatched his head up and tears fell from his eyes. He stood up and stared into the young woman's face with his dark eyes filled with tears. He almost shouted, overwrought by all of this.

"For God's sake, woman! Stop hiding it in your pretty phrases and fancy words! My dad raped somebody for fuck's sake! Yes, he deserves life in prison for it! And no, I don't want to see him!"

The police, not only the young woman but also most of the others at the station, stared at him as he wiped away his tears and slowly sat down again. The police woman pulled her hair behind her ear once again and opened her mouth to speak. She couldn't find the words. People reacted differently when she told them about how one of their family members committed a crime. Most of the parents tried to deny it, and when the kid said it was true, they broke down in tears. When kids got the news that one of their parents, or in a really rare case; both, was a criminal they often didn't understand the true meaning behind it. Then again, Zoro was almost an adult in most eyes. She should have understood that he wouldn't take this like a five-year old would. The situation only got worse with the fact that his mother was deceased, and his father was the only guardian he had.

"So, do you need anything else, or can I leave?" Zoro breathed loudly, trying to adopt a straight face.

It took several seconds before the young police woman was able to speak again. She straightened her glasses and looked down on the paper where Zoro's personal information was.

"Do you have anywhere you can go? Since you are under eighteen we can't let you live alone, without the approval of a guardian. If you must, you can sleep here. The station has a special..."

Yet again she was cut of from her stuttering, but this time Zoro wasn't yelling in her face, but talking to her in normal conversation tone, if only a little harsh.

"I can live at my uncle's place. He lives at this address." He took a pen, which lay on the woman's desk, and scribbled down a telephone number and the name of a street which didn't lie far of from the station.

"I think I will stay there a while, at least, if he thinks its okay. Otherwise, I'll figure something out. I have a couple of friends in town." The woman only nodded so Zoro added: "So, can I go now?"

The police woman saw how hard he clenched his teeth and decided that he didn't want any more pity. He only wanted to leave all of this behind him: both literally and figuratively. She rose up from her chair and shook the hand Zoro had offered.

"You can go now. We will contact you about the date of the trial. You can visit your father during the normal visiting hours. If you want anything you can reach me at one of these numbers." She gave him a white card with two phone numbers printed in blue ink: one to the phone on her desk here at her office, and one to her official cell phone.

"As I said, if you need anything – call. My name is Tashigi, Melinda Tashigi."

Zoro simply nodded and put the card in to his jeans pocket. He pushed the chair under the desk and hurried from the room.

Out in the wind at last, he let his tears fall freely. He walked slowly along the dark street and kicked at everything that crossed his path: stones, one or two empty cans of soda, a fence (which luckily made it without any damage) and other thing which laid and littered on the streets of Grand Line. Zoro continued to walk down the street, and he kept going when the row of houses ended and was replaced by a couple of trees that the local government called the city park. He sat down on one of the benches and looked up at the moon and the stars that were beginning to show in the twilight.

He didn't really want to face the truth. His dad, the man he had lived with and looked up to for almost eighteen years, was a rapist. He had raped a person the same age as his own son. And if that wasn't enough… Zoro had been shocked when Tashigi had told him, with a quiet voice, that it had been a _man_ Zoro's age. Zoro shivered at the thought. Some thought that it was horrible imagining their parents having sex, but he would forever have a picture of his father forcing an eighteen year old boy to... to...

Fuck. Zoro angrily pulled his sleeve up to wipe away the new tears. It wasn't right. He had grown up with his father. He couldn't do something like this, could he?

Yet…

The police had told him that there had been an eyewitness, a friend to the young man, who had contacted the police.

It had to be true. Zoro wasn't going to fight to prove it wrong, even though he wished that it had never been done. Everything on this day was fucked up, but he knew one thing for sure. If his father had done that, then his father had to pay for it as just everybody else. No exceptions.

He clenched his teeth and used the last dry spot on the sleeve of his sweater to wipe off the tears from the corners of his eyes before he started to walk towards his uncle's house. He was sure that the police would call him soon to check if Zoro had arrived safely. And if he knew his uncle right, he would want to know what was happening, and Zoro definitely didn't want him to get the sensitive information by some police over the phone. He had to calm himself down and pass on the news about the black sheep of the family.

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**Quite short first chapter, but I promise that more will come. ****I will try to release these as regular as I can, but I don't want to put a date on anything because I know that I won't be able to make it then XD**

**Please write a review. Flame if you thought it sucked, but then please tell me **what** sucked~ **

**Until next time!**


	2. Family

_Chapter__ 2 – Family_

It was a man dazed with sleep who answered when Zoro knocked on the door, which belonged to a white house located at the end of the park that he had just passed through. Geoffrey Smoker shook his head tiredly and looked at Zoro with sleepy eyes.

"Oh, Zoro. Long time no see. What's up?"

Smoker was only dressed in a pair of loose-fitting pyjama pants, so you could easily see the physique of a man working in the police force beneath it. The six-pack heaved up and down, hardly noticeable, when he breathed, and his arm muscles, slightly bigger than Zoro's, looked like they could have pulled down a running horse.

He had short hair, leaning towards Zoro's green colour, but it kept a grey tone. Not that Smoker was old; he was a man who could say that he was in his prime and really mean it. He was simply born that way. The genes in charge of Zoro's and Smoker's family's hair must have gotten a real smacking a couple of generations ago, since almost none of them had a really normal hair colour. Zoro's grandfather used to say that long ago, their ancestor had been part of an experiment, but he wasn't so sure that that was true.

"Uh," Zoro said and scratched his leg with his black boot. "Could I come in for a second? I have something really important to say."

"And it can't wait until tomorrow?" Smoker asked, throwing a glance over his shoulder, towards the bedroom.

Zoro also tried to look in to the house, but when Smoker turned his head back to face Zoro, the green haired man answered.

"The police don't think so. They'll call you anytime." He tried to smile, but only managed a sad grin.

Smoker almost facepalmed, but stepped out of the way, letting Zoro in. The door closed behind them, and as Zoro bent down to take of his shoes, a voice could be heard from the bed room.

"Geoff, who was that? Come back here, the bed gets cold without you."

"My nephew came over... Well, I guess you could come out and meet him."

Zoro's brain took a pause for a few seconds. Was it just his imagination, or did that voice sound a bit... odd? He leaned a bit closed towards his uncle and whispered with a low voice.

"Hum, is it only me, or did that voice have a very masculine sound for a woman?"

Smoker looked at him and burst out in laughter. He had to hold onto the doorframe so he wouldn't fall over. When the laughter began to slow down he wiped of the tears that had begun falling down.

"Talk about being busted."

His nephew's confused looks demanded an explanation so he turned towards the door and smiled at the person who entered the room with a blanket wrapped around his waist.

"Ace, this is Zoro, my nephew. Zoro, this is Ace Portgas... my boyfriend of a couple months."

Ace looked at him with a bit of a bitter look, having heard Zoro's comment. Besides, he wasn't really up for meeting somebody at this hour.

"You have any problems with that?" Ace asked, just hoping that this guy wasn't a homophobic as well.

Ace shoved his chin forward a little so that the lamp light shone on his freckled face and the sweeping black bangs. Because of the colour of his hair and skin, which was a little darker than the usual man's, it looked like he was at least partially Latin-American. He did, just like Smoker, have a very well trained stomach, even if he was much thinner than his broad shouldered lover.

Another of the most striking things with his appearance was a round scar, just above the right hipbone. It looked quite old, at least a year, but you could clearly see that it was from a gun. Zoro wondered if he also was involved with the police, or where the hell that scar could have come from otherwise.

As if Ace wanted to demonstrate or even protest, he went over to his boyfriend and leaned against him, and Smoker put his arm around the slightly shorter man.

Zoro looked at them with great surprise, as he wasn't really sure what to do. The sad mood he was in right now kind of took the edge of the _happy_ news. Though, he was glad that his uncle's eternal life as bachelor was over, even if he wasn't so sure about this Ace fellow after his first impression. It was just… after what he'd heard today, it was just too soon to feel happy for anyone. His emotions were torn between flying high and in the pits. He felt himself sway slightly, and his knees almost gave out from underneath him.

Smoker released Ace and took a firm grip around Zoro's upper arm.

"I think... I have to sit down."

His uncle nodded and Ace almost looked worried, but also a bit pissed. As he saw it, he had encountered yet another homo-fucking-phobic. Zoro was being led to the sofa and, after making sure Zoro could sit up properly, Smoker took a seat on a chair next to it.

"Really, Zoro... How are you feeling? It's not very like you to have such scrawny nerves."

He swallowed, and looked a bit worried at his nephew. Just like Ace, he didn't want to have this discussion, but with an approving glance from said lover, he took a deep breath.

"Are you scared by this? Me dating a man?"

Ace sighed from where he stood by the couch. He thought Zoro ought to go, but he also knew Smoker well enough to know that deep down, he cared about those closest to him. Plus, this kid was a part of Smoker's family. He almost, just almost, regretted that he had been acting so cold, and told himself quietly that he would go make coffee to keep them all awake. He took a few steps, but turned around and asked Zoro, in a relatively kind tone:

"Sugar or milk?"

Zoro simply shook his head. Ace didn't know if it applied to his own, or Smoker's previous question, but he felt like he ought to leave them alone for a while. He felt it in the air inside the room. There was a pressure on Zoro. He obviously needed to talk to his uncle about something, and Ace wasn't one to bud in. He fixed the blanket he wore around his hips, since he didn't want a strip show with Smoker's family in the living room, and then went in to the kitchen.

"Zoro, it must have been a shock, but I didn't really have any time to tell you before. You, you don't think it's wrong, right?" Smoker said, hoping for a negative answer, and he got one as Zoro once again shook his head.

"It's just that I've chosen to live my life with Ace. I want to be with him forever. But I really do love him. Really love him. Do you understand, Zoro?" Smoker talked in a quiet and slow tone. He liked his nephew, hell Zoro was the only one in his family he could spend more than one hour together with without wanting to shoot something, so he really didn't want to have to pick between Ace and him. Not that he would have any problems choosing, but he would miss his nephew.

Zoro nodded slowly, almost blushing. His uncle had never been the one to talk about feelings, and neither had he. The both of them, even if Zoro was younger, used to hang out a lot years ago, when they had been living closer. His father always said that Zoro looked like a miniature Smoker.

Smoker had been the everlasting bachelor in the family, somewhat of the black sheep. Though, somebody else had the honour of inheritating that title now.

"Uncle Geoff... Something has... happened… And I want you to take it easy… and, no wait, you are already sitting down…" Zoro started, not really knowing how he should tell his uncle the news.

"Hey, Zoro! I'll listen, of course, but you that have to calm down. Now, take it easy and tell me what's wrong."

"Uncle Geoff, have you heard anything from da... from Carl?"

Smoker had a feeling that something wasn't right when Zoro called his father Carl, and not dad, so nodded and put his elbows on his knees and leaned in, but just a bit forward, so he wouldn't scare Zoro…if that was possible.

"Zoro, what happened?"

"Uncle Geoff..." Zoro said and breathed in. He closed his eyes for one second. He wouldn't cry, he told himself. He opened them once again and continued telling the terrible news.

"I don't think you'll be seeing him any time soon. Right now he's at the police station, and believe me; he deserves a fucking lifetime in prison, if not longer!" Zoro ground his teeth. Just like before, he had trouble keeping the tears from flowing from his eyes. Smoker saw this, and he only hesitated for a second before he put his hand on Zoro's shoulder and asked, as carefully as he could, even if he had a stiff voice. He didn't like where this conversation was heading.

"Zoro, what has he done?"

"He... he..." Zoro took a couple of deep breaths . It didn't help if he beat around the bush and kept rambling on. Head on was always better.

"Uncle Geoff, Carl raped a young man last night."

He didn't say more than that. No explanation or excuse. Nothing more.

Smoker just sat and looked at him. He had withdrawn his hand, but he didn't move any more. A faint sound could be heard as Ace put the cups of coffee on a tray made out of metal. Even though he seemed finished in the kitchen he didn't come out, since the two other men hadn't finished talking.

"He... My brother Carl? Raped a man, a _boy?_"

Smoker spat the words out of his mouth. His posture became a bit unsteady, and he grabbed his own knees as he sat still on the chair to remain balanced.

"Who... how? Why would he…" Smoker shook his head, still shocked. It was as hard for him to understand, as it had been for Zoro before.

"I was at the police station just before I came here. They said it was a... man about my age."

"How the hell could he do something like that? He has a fucking family! He has you!"

Terror was lit in Smoker's eyes after he finished the last sentence. He grabbed Zoro's shoulders and looked him in the eyes.

"Zoro! Has he ever done anything to you? Because if he has, I will personally tear the head of that asshole. Even if it's my own brother."

Zoro stared surprised at his uncle. It had never even crossed his mind that his dad could do anything like that.

"N-no, never." Zoro answered, even if he was happy that Smoker, in his own way, cared about him. Smoker bent his head downwards and breathed out slowly.

"Good. If he had, It would have been even harder to forgive him… Not that I plan to forgive him after what he did to that poor young man. I knew Carl wasn't a man to be easily trusted, but yet? I never imagined he could go this far. Do you know how it went for the boy? Or, hell, do you know how bad it was?"

"They didn't really want to talk about it at the police station, but he will survive."

Smoker gulped and shook his head.

"Apparently he did spend the whole day at the hospital, I think he hurt an eye, but the police woman I spoke with said he was spending the night at home, with a friend. On top of everything, he was living alone without parents. I don't really want to imagine somebody sitting at home, thinking about..."

Zoro was cut of as the phone started to ring with a loud signal. Ace, still in the kitchen picked up and answered.

"At Smoker and Portgas, Ace here. Yeah, that's right, he just got here. Well, he seems okay, considering what has happened. Am I his uncle? No... you want to speak with him? Give me two seconds."

Ace entered the living room with a phone in his hand and gave it to Smoker.

"Cops."

Zoro raised an eyebrow at the way Ace said 'cops'. He started to get a bit curious who this Ace really was.

"Geoffrey Smoker here. Yes, my nephew is here. Yes, we _have _heard thank you. Hell no! I don't want to talk to that fucker! No problems. Good bye."

For each line the tone became harder and harder, and it was lucky that he didn't break the phone when he hit the 'end call' button.

"Well, I'll get the coffee." Ace said and jumped back in the kitchen and came back seconds later with the tray with three cups placed on it.

"I suppose they aren't steaming hot any more, but I think we'll all feel a bit better with something on the inside."

He sat down beside Zoro on the couch and began passing out the cups.

"Thanks, Ace right? I kinda want to apologise for before. It's good that Uncle Geoff has someone who cares about him, and that he has something, beside his job, to care about."

Zoro drank a bit of the coffee, which actually still _was_ steaming hot and burned his tongue. It tasted a bit burned as well. He wondered how unskilled, or maybe skilled, you had to be to be able to burn coffee.

Even if the coffee tasted charred it was nice to leave the last topic behind him, at least for the moment.

"No prob. I shouldn't have been so quick to judge."

Zoro nodded in approval and almost smiled, even if the result looked a bit strained.

"Well, for how long have you been together? I must say you did a good job keeping it secret, eh?"

The sight of the three of them sitting in the sofa, Zoro with a desperate grip around the cup and his plastic smile, with both of the other men not wearing shirts looked incredibly fake, not to mention silly, but the conversation was good for all of them. It eased the tense mood between them.

"Oh, almost two years." Smoker shrugged his shoulders as he said it. Zoro almost choked the coffee he had forced down his throat.

"You managed to keep this relationship a secret for two years? Jeez... You really do deserve your place as an undercover cop."

The three of them laughed, and Smoker filled in.

"It's not like nobody knows about it. The kid next door does, well, most of the neighbours do, I think. Except the lady two houses from here, I'm pretty sure she thinks I am hiding a poor kid who was smuggled in to the US from, god knows where. She always winks at me when I'm walking down the street with him."

More laughter erupted from them, and the conversation went on like this for an hour or so before Zoro started yawning. He rubbed his eyes and asked:

"Uncle Geoff, could I stay here, just tonight?"

"Of course, and I'll make sure that you stay longer than that. I don't want you to run away now. It's at moments like this that family has to keep together. Well, maybe that's not the best choice of phrase… But from now on you're living with Ace and I, and you're a part of the family."

Ace smiled. His attitude towards Zoro had turned around 180 degree, and it could be quite fun with one more in the house.

Zoro also smiled, and this time he had abandoned his plastic-grin and replaced it with a genuine smile. He had a place to live, people who cared. He just had to keep tell himself that his father had ruined his own life, not Zoro's. Zoro would continue living, and do whatever _he_ wanted to do with his life. The question was what you could do after a weekend like this. And it wasn't even over yet. Tomorrow was Sunday… but he left the thoughts about that day in favour of another yawn. It was a good idea to get a little sleep. Smoker got up from his chair.

"I'll just go and fetch some sheets. It's okay if you sleep on the sofa right? We don't have an extra bed in this house. Maybe we should get one..."

Zoro didn't hear if Smoker said anything after that, as he stepped into their bedroom again. He came out half a minute later with a pillow and a blanket. He gave them to Zoro and ruffled his short hair, just like he used to do when the boy was younger.

"Good night Zoro. Try and get some sleep, but if you need us, we are in here. Just.... knock first, okay?"

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**Second**** chapter finished****! And she is just 02:25! I know this is more Smoker x Ace, but trust me, the patience ones will get their Zoro x Sanji when that time comes. In the mean time, enjoy what you have got! Big, BIG surprise coming up in next chapter! **

**Once again, I would like to thank my awesome betas MintyTwins. They really help me out, not only with spelling, ****but also with, well everything. Thank you!**

**Now, I do have chapter 3 on my laptop, finished, beta'ed, everything, but you'll have to wait a bit for that one. I hope you all enjoyed chapter 2. See you all in later chapters!**

**Leaving a review ****doesn't take much time for you, but it makes me happier and more motivated to write! So click that button and write a couple of lines.**


	3. Of Two Men and a Ring

_Chapter__ 3 - Of two men and a ring_

"Geoffrey…" Ace spoke in a low voice so Zoro wouldn't hear them from where he slept on the couch in the room next to theirs. He rolled over so he was almost laying on his lover's stomach, with his face turned to him.

"Did you mean everything you said earlier, when I was in the kitchen?" It wasn't hard to hear the hope in Ace's voice, and Smoker smiled at him and nodded.

"Everything. I want to stay with you forever and ever, Ace." He stroked Ace's cheek with his hand.

You're the sunshine of my life", he said and grinned, and was rewarded by Ace's fist in his stomach. "Oh, well, maybe more like the fire of my life. I was just teasing, honey."

"You know you kinda ruined a fine moment there. You're making me sound like a girl..." Ace looked a bit displeased on the outside, but he had trouble hiding how happy he had been by Smoker's comment. Smoker chuckled, and added:

"You have a very masculine voice for a girl, right?" This time, both of them laughed.

"Your nephew is a lot better than I originally thought, thank God. I really have had enough of homophobes and racists and all those fuckers. You know, I see why you like him, he's a good kid. I don't see why I couldn't meet him before?"

"Well, the thought never really occurred to me, partially because he was living with Carl, whom I trust less and less. I think he is on the negative scale right now. I wouldn't trust him with an ice cream cone right now." Smoker's voice rose a bit in volume, so Ace shushed him down.

"Geoff, not now. Leave the kid alone tonight, let's talk about something else."

"Well, except the bastard Carl, would you like to meet the rest of my family?"

Ace was a bit surprised, but nodded slowly. Smoker wasn't known for loving his family.

"Well, in sufficient amounts." Ace poked out his tongue, but Smoker just smiled lovingly at him. The older man' eyes were filled with admiration and love, and looked as though they were shining.

"Ace..."

He rolled over and stretched over the side table that stood on 'his' side of the bed. He reached in and began searching for something in the dark. Ace crawled over and leaned his head on Smoker's shoulder.

"What are you looking for, Geoff?" Ace asked, and kissed said shoulder. Smoker hesitated a couple of moments, before pulling out a little black item.

"Ace, sweetie, this may not be the best time, but... but..." He sat up in the bed and the covers fell to reveal a well-trained stomach. In most cases, a half naked Geoffrey in bed would have been reason enough for Ace to not sit still, but now he sat as if he was made of stone, in shock, and he had to strain himself to remember how to breath.

Smoker took up the black velvet box and opened it slowly for admiring the content before slowly turning it towards Ace.

Ace looked as if he had been taken from an old Hollywood movie, with his hand over his mouth, and even if he denied it forcefully a couple of days later, he was on the brink of crying. If he had had problems breathing before, it was simply luck that Smoker didn't need to revive him with the mouth-to-mouth.

"Ace, do you..." Smoker he trailed off. He tried to remain calm and keep control, but his voice betrayed him. He continued fighting to form the one important sentence.

"Ace Portgas. Do, do you, do you want… to marry me?" He bit his lip hard as if he had done something stupid.

Ace couldn't tear his eyes from the shiny ring. It was a braided ring: with one trail of silver, one trail of gold, and one trail where small, small diamonds. It was unbelievably... beautiful was the only word Ace could find, but the ring couldn't be described with words. It was much more than a beautiful ring. It was the beautiful love from Smoker to Ace.

"Geoff, I…I…", Ace seemed to stutter more than Smoker had done before, and Smoker became even more nervous and turned his gaze away from Ace and closed his eyes. He had put everything on one card, and how daring it had ever been, he didn't want to loose what he had betted. He let the ring rest on the covers.

Ace had never been much for talking; he was a man of action. He knew exactly what he was going to say, but he couldn't create the words. Instead he picked up the box, picked out the ring and placed it on his right ring finger. It fitted perfectly. Smoker must have looked up his finger size before he bought it. Ace wondered a bit how, since he didn't own any other ring, but left the question unanswered and looked at his lover and now fiancé.

Smoker sat quiet, still with his eyes closed as if he was waiting for someone to finish him off. Ace took Smoker's hand, brought it to his mouth and kissed it. Smoker opened his eyes and looked at Ace, and he didn't see the angry or displeased look he thought he would receive, but a pair of eyes filled with tears of joy, and a mouth that in a few seconds met his own. Ace dragged his hand through Smoker's hair and the older man felt the hard metal from the ring against his skin. It was first at that moment Smoker really understood. In a pause of the passionate kiss Smoker tried to actually say something.

"Ace... I..." He didn't get to finish his thought up sentence before Ace cut him of.

"Yes, stupid-Smokey! I don't want anything else. I want to be here with you forever and ever."

Smoker smiled as Ace took his words out of his mouth, both literally and figuratively spoken. They really completed each other. Ace was the lively, young adventurer, with a bit doubtful past, but he did put his heart in everything he did. Geoffrey was the older, but not old policeman, known for being the eternal bachelor, but who had now confessed that he had found the love of his life. As far as they were concerned, they belonged together, and they had agreed not to care what the world thought about them.

Ace's family, or what was left of if, didn't have any problems with it at all. His mother was dead and his father had disappeared years ago, so the only family member remaining was his little brother Luffy. Luffy wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he knew that Ace loved his Geoffrey, and therefore he didn't have any problems with it. Luffy was stupid at times, but he wasn't blind. Well, Ace's grandfather was still around, but Smoker got the shivers imagining telling his boss that he was screwing his grandson.

Smoker on the other hand, hadn't dared to even mention it to his family. His mother was a strongly believing Catholic, homophobic, and quite the racist against everyone she didn't believe fit in to her Christian utopia. She would think it was the end of the world if he came home and told her that his lover was half Latin-American and male. Sex with the devil, she would call it. Not that the truth was far from that, he had never slept with anyone like Ace. Well, Ace was the only man he had allowed down in the bed ever, but Ace was special when it came to the enjoyment between the sheets.

The rest of Smoker's family wasn't so great either. His father hadn't had a single job during Carl and Geoffrey's childhood, but had stayed home, watching TV and betting on horse races. Their mother had told them that it was his mission from God, and they had believed her blindly. From the moment they knew what was happening around them they had been brain washed by Christian teachings, with their mother as their strict-and-not-always-fair teacher. He still found it amazing that neither of them had been convinced to continue with religion when they left home, but he guessed that they had enough of it as kids, and that their mother wasn't exactly the kind of person you wanted to take after.

Neither of his parents would accept his boyfriend—now fiancé—he knew that for sure. However, he didn't want to say anything to his brother for the simple reason that he didn't trust him. He was what Smoker could call a fucking-sneaky bastard. Not someone Smoker wanted to share something with, and definitely not more than necessary.

To sum the whole thing up, Smoker didn't have any contact with, or like for that matter, anybody in his family except Zoro, and they didn't meet often since Smoker moved away from their neighbourhood. Before that, Zoro and Smoker had met every once in a while, and talked or trained together. They shared many thoughts, and the common interest for martial arts was what brought them together, coupled with the fact that they were only a few years apart in age. Geoffrey was the younger of the two, and Zoro had been born when Carl was only nineteen. The two were only twelve years apart. Ace was twenty-four, just in the middle of them.

Smoker was brought back to reality when he started to run out of air. Breathless, he broke the kiss and looked longingly at Ace.

"This is really happening. You really want...? You are wearing my ring."

Ace leaned forward and kissed Smoker's neck just where it met the shoulder.

"This is as real as the fact that your mom gave birth to you. I want this more than anything else in the world. And I will bear your ring with pride, always! You see, right now I am just wearing your ring and nothing else..."

To the last sentence he added a low, and also a bit husky and then he kissed Smoker again. His hand sought their way down and started playing with one of Smoker's nipples.

"Ace...Ace, god, stop.", Smoker moaned, and nodded toward the door.

"Zoro is in the room next door. We really shouldn't scare him shitless the first night. He'll never sleep here again if he hears you scream."

Smoker kept a playful tone, but Ace stopped what he was doing and instead begun fondle his face.

"Me screaming? Are you sure that's not just your religious upbringing wanting to wait until after the wedding?" Smoker laughed so Ace, who was laying on his stomach, bumped up and down.

"And you say that _now_? How many times would we have to get married to make up for all the time you came home from work and dragged me to the bed so could get it off your mind." Smoker, just like Ace before, held a bit of a dirty tune, but it was mixed with teasing.

"No, no, no talk about sex if I'm not getting any tonight, Geoff! That's not fair play! Go on, talk about something else."

Smoker sat up and rested his back against the bed table, and Ace turned around and crawled up in Smoker's lap, back leaning against the broader stomach. Smoker reached down and put his arms around Ace.

"When do you want to do it?" Smoker asked and kissed the top of Ace's head. Ace himself turned his head upwards and looked, a bit puzzled, at Smoker.

"What do you mean? Sex?", he asked.

Smoker wondered for a moment if he was serious or not. He bashed his head lightly, then placed a kiss there a few seconds later.

"No. The wedding!"

"Oh..." Ace felt unusually stupid and blushed. "Pretty soon, but I want time to plan for everything, and make everything perfect. Oh, you'll look so handsome in a dress suit." Ace's dream was brutally killed when Smoker added:

"And you'll look incredible cute in a wedding dress." Ace's chin dropped. He blushed even more, and looked up at Smoker.

"D-dress?! No fucking way, mister! I might be less manly than you, but no way in hell am I wearing a dress.

"Easy, babe. If you don't _want_ a dress you don't have to wear one. But believe me, you would look awkwardly cute in one."

Ace face was so red it was boiling. Him in a dress? No fucking way. He would rather fantasize about Smoker in a dress suit, since he didn't know how to dress himself up. But a dress? No, no, no. Even if Smoker said he would look cute in one, so fuck…

"Stupid-Smokey...", he muttered an crawled back in his lover's strong arms and they both fell asleep.

* * *

**Another**** chapter finished****, a bit**** shorter than**** the last**** one****,**** but hey****! We are moving forward. Is it just me, or might I be able to complete this piece of work? :3 I have got everything planed, and I have got an ending.**

**When I first begun to write this chapter, I didn't knew this was going to happen, but here we go~ A short part about Ace being happy about Smoker loving him ended up with a proposal. Just one problem now; which last name should they take on? XD**

**Once again; big thanks goes to my beta's MintyTwins. I hope you had a nice home coming!**

**I hope I can keep this up, with one chapter in the start of each week, but don't get disappointed if there's no new chap next monday or so, I have really much to do in school and a boyfriend ;)  
**

**Now, you have lived with me for over 2000 words in this chapter , why don't you leave a few in return in a review?**


	4. Nightly Thoughts

_Chapter__ 4 –__ Nightly thoughts_

Zoro lay on the couch and stared up at the ceiling, unable to sleep. Voices, but no words could be heard through the walls of Smoker and Ace's bedroom. Zoro turned a deaf ear and concentrated on his twisted mind. He had way too much to think about tonight, so he doubted he would sleep. The day had started as a normal Saturday. He had woken up late, gone down to the kitchen to eat some pizza leftover from the evening before. His dad was still not home, but it wasn't that unusual for him to be gone during the weekend.

Zoro had turned on the TV to watch the 12 o' clock news, as he did every day. A bank robbery in New York, promises of lowered taxes from the President, a survey about working hours who's details he didn't have the energy to listen to. It was the last news, reported only at the local channel, after the weather report, that caught his attention. A rape, in Grand Line. Zoro was surprised. Since when did something like that happen in a hole like G'Line? Zoro had spent all of his life there, and it wasn't very often something out of the norm happened.

He had just shut off the TV when his world began to fall apart.

A black car with sirens on the roof had pulled into their driveway. The police officers who had climbed out of the car—the woman Tashigi was one of them—had asked if he was Zoro Roronoa. He nodded and asked what was going on. They asked him to follow them to the police station. The rest had gone so quickly, he couldn't remember all of the details, but that was when Tashigi had told him the shaking news.

When he had the spots on the ceiling engrained in his mind he decided he'd been staring at the ceiling long enough. He turned his gaze towards the chest of drawers on his left side. It was filled with photos of Smoker and Ace: one of Smoker and Ace at a bar, both with a glass in their hand. Another of Smoker and Ace on a park bench, holding hands; Ace rested his head against the older man's shoulder and both of them looked incredibly happy. A third with Smoker and Ace at the beach, neither of them wearing more than a pair of trunks, laying in the sand on their way to kiss, unaware that someone was taking their picture. Zoro wondered a bit who had taken the pictures since they had been so secretive about their relationship. He mentally shrugged his shoulders and returned his attention to the picture. It reminded him of his summer, in way to many ways.

To be honest, Zoro had never been interested in girls; they had been uninteresting all the way from pre-school. Really, what were you supposed to do with them? When he saw his friends getting clingy girlfriends, he wasn't jealous. They just confirmed that it wasn't a good idea. The years passed on and his friends came to him to complain when they got betrayed by a girl, and Zoro sighed each time. He was the only one in the gang who never had a girlfriend, but he was never teased about it. Whether it was because he was the easily strongest of them, or because the gang respected the fact that he didn't want a girlfriend, he wasn't sure.

_Flashback: "__What we did last summer"_

His dad had gotten him a trip down to Florida during the summer. He said Zoro needed some time for himself, though it was more likely that his dad wanted him out of the way for a while, so Zoro went down to Florida for a week. It hadn't been such a special week. He had spent the most time on the beach working on his already quite brown tan. The evenings had mostly been spent at the hotel bar, or alone on his room. The last night he had gone down to a beach disco to bid farewell to Florida. Zoro had sat down at the bar and started talking to a young, male bartender. He was dressed in a black, unbuttoned shirt and khaki shorts. The bartender had been good looking—really good looking if Zoro remembered correctly. A couple of hours, and several drinks, later the bartender left his position behind the counter to dance with a not-so-sober Zoro. In no time they were making out in the middle of the dance floor. Another dancer bumped into Zoro and said, teasingly, that they ought to get a room. Which was exactly what they did.

The next morning Zoro had woken up in a big bed that didn't smell like home, but more like sweat and sex. Just because Zoro never had a girlfriend didn't mean he never had sex before. It hadn't been many times, especially if you compared to what the norm was for a man about his age. The question was who had he slept with? He had an exploding headache, and a huge hangover. The memories from the night before were fuzzy from all of the drinking.

He lifted the covers a bit and looked at the other side of the bed. His jaw dropped when he saw the six-pack and the beard stubble. A Man. He had had sex with a man...But a bloody good looking man. Damn, what was he thinking? He found himself thinking like that more and more often. He had never been attracted by girls, but he could turn his head around and follow a handsome guy with his gaze. He had never thought about it... that way, but still… Was he gay?

Well, he supposed he was since he had sex with another man, but…

The other man turned his face towards Zoro in his sleep, and Zoro began to remember fragments of the night before. The bar. The bartender. The disco, dancing close, very close. Making out. The hotel. Sex. Hot, mind-blowing sex.

The man sleeping next to Zoro started to wake up and Zoro began to panic. What was he supposed to do? What was he supposed to say?

"Mm-mm... Oliver... Shit, it was like, the first time yesterday, what have you been doing lately?" the man mumbled into his pillow, and Zoro just looked at him, now really not sure what to say. Oliver?! Who the hell was Oliver? Oh…the bartender's boyfriend! Right, that had to be it!

"Oi..." Zoro shook the other man's shoulder. He opened his eyes, caught the sight of Zoro, and a look of terror immediately spread across his face. He wasn't expecting to see Zoro next to him, that was for sure.

"You... you're not Oliver. Who the fuck are you?"

"I'm the guy you got drunk, picked up on the dance floor, and brought here. Who the fuck is Oliver?" Zoro asked, sounding thoroughly pissed off. This was not how he wanted things to go, and this guy certainly didn't help the situation. The two of them naked in a hotel's double bed wasn't what either of them had planned.

"Oh." Was the only thing the bartender could say, "You do realize I have a boyfriend, right?" he added a little later.

"Let me guess, his name is Oliver?" Zoro glared at him.

"Hey, I guess that this partially my fault, but yesterday you didn't seem to have any problems with it!"

Zoro blushed slightly and thought back. It was pretty obvious now, he was gay. He just wished he had figured it out with a nicer guy.

"I'll leave now anyway." Zoro's tone was short and when he got up from the bed he kept the covers around him. The bartender managed keep his eyes away from him, reserving them for that Oliver that obviously was so special.

"Wait a second, you. I'll just give you my number before you leave!"

Zoro turned around while walking and stared shocked in to the other man's eyes with a wild look.

"You sick bastard! What do you take me for, huh? Forget about me, and go back to your precious Oliver. I hope you two get a happy life together forever, but I am sorry to say that I doubt it will happened if you keep that attitude. Don't go fucking around with other people if you claim that you have a boyfriend and you love him. That's just fucking sick and pathetic." Zoro snapped. At this point he looked like he could win a battle against a tiger with just a look. His black eyes were even darker than usual, like deep holes.

He pulled on his boxers and pants, grabbed his shirt and left with stomps that threatened the health of the floor. He went directly to his own hotel, picked up all his things, placed them in his backpack and headed for the airport to get home. Fucking good start on a day.

Since that day he had lived with the 'fact' that he was gay, but did nothing more than that. No more sex adventures with unknown men, he didn't tell his father, he didn't tell his gang, he didn't tell anybody. What would his gang say if their leader openly admitted that he liked men?

And his father, Carl. What would Carl have said if Zoro told him about it? Would his father have tried to have sex with him? Or told him he was old enough to follow his own path in life? Would he tell Zoro that they were alike, the same? The same. He and his father, alike in everything? That couldn't be true, right? Just because he liked men and had a father like Carl, didn't mean he wanted… to rape someone? Was he going to be like his father when he got older? Zoro frantically shook his head and bashed himself on his forehead.

_Stop __thinking stupid stuff like that_, he thought to himself.

His eyes wandered back to the photographs portraying Ace and Smoker. He could also become that happy, if he found his right one. Ace and Smoker were the total opposite of Carl. They cared about other people, but mostly importantly about each other, and their love was second to absolutely nothing.

Zoro laughed a bit to himself.

"When I grow up, and find my special one, we'll be just like uncle Geoff and, heh well, uncle Ace." How ever stupid it sounded, it was a bit reassuring. Once again he repeated that he was in control of his own life. A new week of school started after the autumn holiday on Monday, so he could; a bit discreetly of course, begin his hunt for his prince Charming.

He smiled as he lay on the sofa, it really sounded like a drama. But it was true; the latest hours had been a rollercoaster of drama. The police visiting him, the information about his father being a rapist and that he was about to get locked away for several years, the meeting with Smoker and Ace, the conversation with the shit-tasting coffee, and now he was laying on the sofa like a love struck teenager, not able to sleep. He turned around to his other side, facing the back support of the couch, closed his eyes and tried to relax. The voices in the other room were silent now, and he suspected that the others had gone to sleep.

Today had probably been one of his worst days ever, if you counted away the day his mother passed away. It was a nice feeling, knowing that the day was over, and a new day was coming. Even if he had a feeling that it wouldn't be one of his best, he had problems seeing that it could be worse than this one.

* * *

**Yet a chapter. Once again: we're not that far in the story line, but I like where this is going, and I promise you people that stuff will happen. **

**Just a couple of notes from this chapter;**

**The bartender and Oliver is stupid OC. You won't ever hear from them again. **

**My feelings towards the flashback is ****so-so, but it had to be written. The name "What we did last summer" is a great concert with Robbie Williams, yet a source of imagination. **

**Wasn't the pictures of Smokey and Ace cute?**

**For the impatience: Sanji will make an at least said epic entry next time.**

**Didn't get so many reviews last chapter, but oh well. Hope you liked this one, and you know I would be very happy if you all reviewed on this chapter.**

**Once again; big thanks to my betas!  
**


	5. The Boy Next Door

_Chapter__ 5 – The boy__ next door_

Somebody knocked on the door and Zoro sat up, woken up by the sound. Where was he?

Oh, right... At Uncle Geoff's place. Then it was someone at _his _door who'd knocked. When neither Smoker nor Ace seemed to come out from their bedroom to open it, Zoro got up from the sofa and stretched his back. For a couch, it was a decent sleeping place. He took the t-shirt he had been wearing yesterday and pulled it over his head as he walked towards the door, yawning. He opened it with a tired:

"Good morning?"

He wasn't sure what he was expecting to see, but it wasn't what was standing in the doorway. It was a young man, maybe at little younger than himself, or at least thinner. He had half short, blonde hair whose bangs were combed over the left eye in an attempt to hide the bandage which covered it. The man was hurt in several more places other than the eye; he had scratches from dull nails on his neck and on one of his cheeks, a cracked open lip and a big bruise on his throat.

The man stood still. Absolutely still, and just stared at Zoro. He couldn't form a word, he just stood there, and when Zoro took a step closer to see what was wrong, Zoro could see how he clenched his teeth tight together, shut his visible eye and almost arched his back, as if he was trying to say '_Don't hurt me_' with his body language. Zoro reached a hand towards the boy's shoulder, and it seemed like that was too much for the young man as he fainted in Zoro's arms.

"O-oii... Hey, wait a sec... What's…" Zoro shook the man carefully, but the didn't move more. Zoro looked outside the door to see if there was anybody else out there, but when he didn't see anyone he shrugged his shoulders and lifted the young man in his arms. He was surprisingly light, Zoro noticed as he carried him into the house.

"Uncle Geoff, Ace! Wake up! Help me out here, would you?"

Zoro had just carefully placed the man on the sofa when Geoffrey came out of their bedroom with Ace following on his heels, both fully dressed.

"What's all the commotion?"

Zoro wasn't that sure what to say, so he pointed at the hurt man.

"You know him? He knocked on you door."

Zoro looked down at the man. He really didn't like what he saw, and he had an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

"Shit, Sanji!" Ace said with a low voice.

Smoker bit his lower lip, so hard that blood came out.

"You don't think...?", Smoker said with a stiff voice.

Zoro and Ace nodded in chorus. It was the only logical reason the poor man was so messed up. He even had a hurt eye, like the police officers had told Zoro yesterday.

"W-who is he?"

"The neighbour kid. The kid's parents died just a few months ago, and he had problems keeping the house. We agreed to help him, so in return he comes here and cooks once in a while. Hell of a chef, that kid."

"He fainted when he saw my face.", Zoro said and stared out of the window. He felt a bit sick when he looked at the man named Sanji. To think it was his father who did that.

Smoker nodded, understanding how Zoro felt about it, since he felt pretty much the same.

"I didn't think I could hate him more, that fucking bastard."

Ace bent down and drew away the hair from Sanji's hurt eye and carefully lifted the eye patch. He closed his eyes and sighed before he slowly covered the mess that was under it.

Ace's hands shook and he cried soft tears.

"Geoff, look at his hands." Ace couldn't say anything but that. Neither could Smoker when he saw Sanji's right hand with plaster around all of the fingers.

"He broke his fingers." Zoro said, not able not to look.

He wanted to hit, smash, and kill his father for doing something to such a pretty creature.

Zoro wanted to stroke his hair, wanted to be able to heal his injuries. Fuck, wrong time to feel like this. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

Ace went out in the kitchen, partially so he wouldn't have to see what Carl had done to his friend, but also so he could fetch a glass of water and a bit of damp clothing. Ace bathed Sanji's forehead and hoped he would wake up. The other two men stood still, watching like guards over the hurt man.

---

"...nji? Sanji? Can you hear me?" Sanji slowly opened his healthy eye, the left one still hurt like hell. It was Ace leaning over him. He sighted, a bit easier. Was it just a nightmare before, or an illusion, that man in the doorway. Ace stood up, revealing two other men, Geoffrey and... and... Sanji breath caught in his throat when he saw the third man. Tall, broad shoulders, green hair, and those black, black eyes. But he looked a bit different, younger? Worried? Sad?

Ace sat down beside him again and carefully placed a hand on his shoulder. Sanji twitched at the touch, but Ace kept his hand there.

"Sanji, listen to me! That is not who you think it is. It's not him. He is in jail. Locked away."

Smoker also took a step forward and started talking.

"He can't hurt you anymore, Sanji. I promise you."

Ace nodded and patted Sanji's shoulder. "Just breathe normally Sanji. It will be okay."

Zoro looked at the other two trying to calm the other man down. Sanji was scared of him, terrified. He was so much like his father.

Sanji inhaled and exhaled. Inhaled and exhaled. He tried to organize his thoughts and the situation, but there were to many questions, and on the top of the pile was:

"How do you know what happened?"

None of them really wanted to answer that question, but at last Zoro opened his mouth and said.

"It was my father." Zoro said with a harsh voice.

Sanji blinked. He wasn't ready for that. But that explained one or two things, including why he looked so much like him. He didn't see that Ace offered him a glass of water to drink; he had only eyes for the green haired man.

"Your father?"

"My father." Zoro nodded. Yet again there was a massive silence keeping up for minutes, finally broken by Smoker saying:

"Sanji, be honest now... how do you feel?" He knew that the answer that he was expecting wouldn't make him feel any better. Zoro's eyes left the hurt man and went back to staring out the window.

"I-I feel like I could kill, and die at the same time. I'm constantly in some kind of pain, but that's not the worst." Sanji looked at his feet when he talked, not wanting to meet the eyes of his friends. Zoro still looked out the window, at the birds flying outside. The uneasy feeling in his stomach only grew.

"The worst is that I can't do anything as it is now, I can't take revenge, I can't fight, I can't do anything. Fuck, I can't even light a smoke with this hand. The thing he turned me into, something helpless, that's worse than all the things he did." There was a really grim tone in Sanji's voice, and he clutched his working hand into a tight fist.

The look of him sitting on the sofa covered in bandages just added more to his statement. Sanji's eyes sought Zoro's, and caught them in a cold stare, as if he was to blame in some way. Zoro saw all the anger and sadness in them, but most of all there was bitterness, and even fear. In some way it felt like Sanji pushed all of his guilt over onto Zoro's shoulders. He started to feel really sick, looking in to those cold eyes. Breaking eye contact, he rushed into Smoker and Ace's bathroom, and bowed down in front of the toilet. Different unpleasant pictures of his father and Sanji in a dark alley raced through his mind, each one worsening the situation.

He gasped for air that didn't smell or taste like vomit, and vaguely heard Smoker questioning him whether he needed help or not. He responded with a gurgling sound, he would be fine.

After that, he could hear the voices start talking again, but he knew that he didn't want to hear anything about what had happened to Sanji.

Smoker wasn't so sure he wanted to hear it either, but he took a chair, the same one as he had used yesterday, and took seat in front of Sanji. Ace stood with a stony face a couple of steps away from Sanji and Smoker.

_Two days ago_

It had been a Friday night, Sanji and a friend had gone down to a bar to celebrate the weekend, and to be quite frank they had gotten themselves really, really drunk. A bit too drunk, even. Sanji had chugged down his last beer and said he was leaving for home. His friend, Usopp, had nodded and said that he only needed to go take a piss before he went home.

Sanji had left the bar, to busy concentrating on not falling over on the side walk to notice that just thirty seconds after he had gone out the door, an older man in the middle of his thirties also left the bar, and rushed after him in the fastest speed possible without it looking to suspicious. He kept his right hand in his pocket all the time, fingering the dangerous weapon inside it.

Sanji continued his balancing act for a couple of hundred meters, and the man followed him about ten meters behind. He had a wild, determined look on his face, and sweat had started to run down his temple. A grin covered his face, and he kept fixing his green hair so it wouldn't fall into his eyes.

Now, Sanji was drunk, but not stupid, and after a while, he understood that someone was following him. He raised his pace, trying to outrun the other man, but when he still kept the same pace as Sanji, about ten meters behind, he knew this was trouble.

At that moment, Sanji made what was probably the stupidest decision, in his life. He turned to a back street, an alley, thinking that he would beat the crap out of the man if he followed him in there.

The following man sneered and turned in to the alley, still fingering the thing in his jacket pocket. Sanji had turned around and held up his right leg, ready to kick the man into unconsciousness.

"Hello boy. Where are you going?" the man asked with a quiet voice that sent shivers up Sanji's spine. The man was panting a bit, and kept pulling his hair back.

"I don't know what you're trying to pull, but you ought to know that I can defend myself pretty well, so just turn around and go away." Sanji held a steady voice, despite of the bubbles in his stomach. He had a bad feeling that this man wasn't just after his wallet and cell phone.

"You're almost grown up. You know that the world doesn't work like that." He started to walk towards Sanji with firm steps. "You and me, we both know that this world is a cruel one. We both know that you're in trouble."

Sanji swallowed, but pulled up his leg a bit further, taking aim. "Don't tell me I didn't warn you." he said, swinging his leg in direction.

The other man slipped to the side, used to fighting, and pulled up the weapon he had been carrying in his pocket all the time. He drove it in to Sanji's waist and pressed the button.

Electricity from the stun gun leaped into Sanji's body, and made him fall over on the ground.

"The same to you kid, don't tell me I didn't warn you." the man said with an evil smirk as he unbuttoned his pants.

Sanji panted as the pain slowly faded. It still hurt like hell and it would be long time before he would be able to move normally again. He heard metal clang together as the belt bucle of the man's pants hit the ground.

In panic, he twisted on the floor, kicking the man's leg. Even if if wasn't with his usual force, the man swore and his hand left his pants.

"You think you are something, huh?" He bent down and took a hold of Sanji's shirt and pulled him up so that they were face to face.

Two eyes, one hidden beneath his blonde bangs, stared back, not in fear, but in anger. Though it was there, you would have to look pretty hard to see that terror within.

The green haired man tightened his fist and brought it forcefully to Sanji's chin. Sanji tried to turn his head away, but yet another hit landed on his face. He felt blood poured down from his lip, onto his dress suit.

He looked down at it, trying to concentrate on something else other than the man beating him to a pulp, but it had the opposite effect.

"Oh, you got blood on your fancy suit?" the man said with a twisted voice, grinning like the madman he was. He pushed Sanji back agains one of the walls in the alley, still holding the young man up. He pulled up something shiny from the back pocket of his jeans and, after a moment of focusing his eyes, Sanji saw that it was a knife. Luckly, he managed to hold in the gasp.

The man slowly cut of the buttons of the shirt, one by one, letting them fall down on the ground until all of them were gone. Then he cut of the arms and tore the rest off Sanji's thin body, resulting in Sanji, leaning agains the cold wall made of stone, topless and shivering.

This was going to hell, if not even worse than that. The knife was cold against his bare skin, and he knew that the man still had the stun gun in his pocket. How ever much he didn't want to encounter that machine again, he wouldn't stand not doing anything.

Much, if not all, of this energy went to mustering up the will to actually punch his attacker in the face. He panted more than before, and pain stabbed him with each breath. He even felt how drool dripped down his chin, and he tried to dry it of on his shoulder, but his muscles wouldn't obey him.

"You little shit!" the man yelled in Sanji's face. He looked around him, making sure there was no one there before he brought up the knife and let the edge rest on Sanji's nose. "So, you're fighting back. Don't you remember what I said before? It's a cruel world..."

He angled the knife and pulled away the strands of hair covering Sanji's left eye.

"It's a really, really cruel world, but you know what? I'm going to do you a favour. I'll make sure you won't see that much of it ever again." He smirked and took a firm grim around the knife.

Sanji screamed for the first time that evening when the edge cut his skin, eyelid and eye. The pain was too great to be able to stand, but the man just continued, digging deep enough into the eyeball to make sure Sanji would be forever blind , but he was careful not to go so far as to cause major damage on his brain.

Blood flowed down the face and his naked chest as Sanji gripped for the other man's jacket with his hands, trying to push him away.

"Not enough?" he laughed, and grabbed Sanji's hand and twisted the fingers until a loud crack could be heard. Sanji screamed once again, trying to pull his hand back, but the man wouldn't let go of it until all of the fingers on his right hand were deformed.

The man was starting to pant louder, and Sanji, now on the brink to losing his consciousness, heard how the man's pants hit the ground, and, hazily, he felt his own pants being torn off not-so gently. He felt one giant stab of pain, one of a nature he had never encountered before, going all the way up his spine, and then he fell into the black darkness.

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**Okey! That was chapter five. Now everybody knows the story. I'm sorry if it was dark or disturbing, but it said so in the description of this fic. Thanks to betas, AND everyone who reads this. I'm a bit supriced that so manyy people have read this.**

**Just a note: I have chapter six ready (just got it back from Beta), and I will upload it next Monday. This week, I'm free from school, but with my usual luck, I'm sick. I'll try to write more, but I'm not sure chapter seven will be on time. Bear with me.  
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**Please review! I try to respond to every signed review and I love them all! Now, join the crowd and leave a review, please! :3**


	6. Problems of every kind

_Chapter 6 – __Problems of every kind_

Zoro wiped his mouth with one of the towels hanging in Smoker and Ace's bathroom. He sniffed at it and wrinkled his nose before throwing it in a corner of the bathroom. It wasn't so fresh anymore.

He sighed as he looked at the door, not wanting to take the steps out in the living room to confront Sanji once again. With his hand on the knob, he felt his jeans pocket beginning to buzz. He picked up his phone and answered shortly with a simple:

"Zoro here."

"Z_orooo~_", somebody on the other end of the line called, and Zoro immediately moved the cell phone five centimetres from his ear, knowing who he was talking to.

"_Zoro, you really need to help me!_" Fearing that the kid had gotten himself into more trouble, Zoro backed away from the door and asked, with a slow voice:

"Seriously, what have you been up to now?"

"_Nothing, nothing like that, Zoro, I promise! But you have to help me! Can you meet me at the old restaurant?_"

Before Zoro could say anything, the other person cancelled the call. Zoro shook his head at the usual behaviour of his friend.

He nodded to no one and put his phone back into the pocket of his well worn jeans. After giving himself a little more time to hesitate, he opened the bathroom door and went out to meet the other three men. He was being extra careful not to look into the eyes—or, rather, eye—of Sanji.

"I have to go out for a while. A friend of mine is in trouble." he said with a low voice.

Smoker raised an eyebrow at the comment, not forgetting his occupation while at home. Zoro saw this and shook his head.

"He promised that it wasn't like that... Not this time." he added after a second. There had been a time when Smoker had been dealing with both Zoro and his friends. Luckily, it had never been anything serious, but Smoker tended to be careful around Zoro's friends and the word "trouble".

"Anyway, I'm heading out to meet him. I'll take this chance to pick up some clothes at dad's place."

A hardly noticeable shiver leaped through Sanji's spine, and Zoro turned his gaze from the others to the door and his jacket, which was hanging on a hook next to it. He pulled it down and put it on.

"I'll be back in the evening, I promise." he said as he closed the door after him.

It wasn't as windy as the evening before, but winter was obviously creeping closer. Zoro made a mental note to grab a scarf and a pair of gloves from his father's house.

Leaves covered the streets as Zoro began to walk towards his destination. A faint wind blew though the almost naked trees, and he shuttered and quickened his pace. Eventually, he saw the restaurant, and, in the window, the shape of a boy jumping up and down could be seen. Obviously, his friend had seen him already; he'd probably been staring out the window looking for Zoro's familiar form.

Zoro pulled a hand through his short hair and removed his jacket. He rubbed his hands together in an attempt to revive his fingers from their frozen state. Gloves got an extra underline on his mental note.

"Zorooo, finally!" A black haired boy rushed from his seat at the window to hug the newcomer. Zoro pushed the boy gently away, and ruffled his hair. An ecstatic grin covered the boy's face as he dragged Zoro to the table next to the window.

"So, Luffy..." Zoro began, but was immediately interrupted by said person.

"I have this huuuge problem!"

"You know, I can't help you with anything suspicious. I moved in with my uncle, and he's a cop, so no more underground stuff for me, buddy." The green haired man said.

"Zoro, I told you it wasn't that kind of trouble! It's more of a problem. Wait a minute and I'll show you..." Luffy dove into his rucksack and, after a while, he came back up again, gasping for air, as though he'd been drowning in the mess inside of the bag. He gave Zoro a very worn photo. It still looked fairly recent, so he must have been looking at it often, giving it the worn look.

Pictured on the photo was a girl about their own age, with hair the colour of oranges and a big smile on her face. Zoro whistled low and reached forward to box Luffy on this shoulder. He gave the photo back and nodded.

"So, who is she?"

"She is the daughter of one of gramp's friends. I met her this summer and she is amazing at everything! And Zoro, she is going to start at our school after the break. You have to help me!" Luffy's voice was desperate, and he was leaning as far over the table as he could. He seemed abnormally serious, as Luffy was usually the joker of the group; he was always smiling and laughing.

"She had a boyfriend last summer," Luffy said with his lip hanging out, suddenly looking sadder than a puppy in the rain. "But she said she liked me."

Zoro raised an eye brow. Once again his theory about women was confirmed. Luffy still stared at the photograph, enchanted by the picture of the girl he seemed to like so much.

"Don't you have a brother or something? He can't help you with this?"

Luffy just shook his head slightly, eyes still attached to the precious picture.

"He's no good, not when it comes to girls. Pleeeease, Zoro, just this once. I know you don't like girls, but just this once, once! She is really awesome!" Luffy exclaimed and gave Zoro his dreaded puppy-eyes look. The other man shook his head slightly and looked at the girl on the photograph, and then at Luffy's big eyes again.

"Then what do you want me to do?" he sighed in resignation.

"I have her number. If I call her, could you follow me and meet her?" Luffy's mood shot up, and he left his seat to stand up next to the table.

"Are you sure that you're going to do this?"

"Yep, really sure!" He was already on his way out the door, ignoring Zoro's hungry looks towards the kitchen. He hadn't gotten anything to eat this morning, and the last thing he had eaten was Ace's horrible coffee. When Luffy said that they were meeting at the restaurant, he had been expecting that they would sit down and eat, since the constant hunger for more food was one of Luffy's biggest character traits. Zoro was surprised, or even stunned, that the kid hadn't emptied the food reserves in the restaurant, but he hurried after his friend. Zoro wasn't one let a little hunger get to him.

"Luffy, wait up!" The black haired kid turned around and spotted Zoro ten meters behind him.

"Zorooo, aren't you supposed to be in really good shape?" Luffy said with an innocent look on his face, still grinning a bit.

"Come on, you know I am. I just want something to drink; I have a really awful taste in my mouth, and a Coke would help a lot."

"OK, we'll stop by the kiosk on the next street."

"Good, and Luffy? Before you rush around half the town, call her." Luffy grinned so that his smile covered half of his face.

"Right." he said.

Zoro smiled too, and turned to the right so he could buy that eagerly awaited Coke. He paid the poor kid who had to stand in the cold box all day, and opened the bottle, gulping down half of the contents in one go.

Luffy had taken place on a bench a few feet away, staring down at the cell phone in his hands. Zoro looked at him curiously, as he had never seen Luffy in this state. He sat down beside him and took a sip from his Coke.

"She's that important, huh?" Luffy just nodded, so Zoro continued to talk. "I understand that she is, but am I the best person for this? You've got Usopp, and you brother, and I'm sure there are plenty of people more suited for this than me."

"No, Usopp's at home; he won't leave his room." Luffy frowned, looking bitterly at the sky. His usual partner in crime was also a coward, even if he called himself an excellent tactician. "And, I told you my brother isn't any good with girls. Plus, he hardly ever visits me anymore." The frown got deeper. This just wasn't Luffy's day.

"Why, is he up to something again, you know, like all that stuff two years ago?" Zoro, having never actually met Luffy's brother, had heard a good deal of his adventures against the law.

"No, he's always with this cop. Didn't I tell you they moved in together?"

Zoro, still not even considering the connection, continued:

"You're serious? Your brother, dating a cop? Shoo, can't see that, the way your he is. I can't understand what she's doing with someone like him. Sheh."

"She?" Luffy asked him, puzzled.

"Your brother's girlfriend?" Zoro answered with a 'duh'-attitude. He placed the bottle at his mouth and took another gulp of the drink.

"But, Ace doesn't have a girlfriend."

Zoro never got a chance to swallow the soda, and it spurted out his mouth and onto the pavement, to the joy of the ants that had survived the summer.

"Ace!? Ace, Ace is your brother?"

"Yeah, you didn't know his name?"

"No, well, maybe, but I guess I forgot."

It couldn't be a mistake. How many gay men named Ace were currently dating a cop in Grand Line? The one and only was probably still in his uncle's living room. But then, if Ace was Luffy's brother, then Ace was a badass criminal who never got caught. He had heard Luffy talking about his brother, but if he had ever mentioned his name, Zoro had forgotten about it not long after.

"Then, all the stuff that you told me happened two years ago, and every other thing you ever told me about your brother, was Ace?"

"Of course Zoro, Ace is my brother." Luffy said dumbfounded, since this really was one of the most obvious facts in his life.

"Damn, after all: you do look a bit alike, when it comes down to it. As far as looks go. Can't say the same about your personalities, though. Your brother seems to take things a bit easier, hell he would have to, after all the stuff you told me about."

"Wait, you've met Ace?"

Zoro nodded.

"And you still didn't know his name?" Luffy looked impressed, as though it were something for Zoro to brag about.

"No, you idiot! I didn't know that the two of you are brothers." Zoro laughed at Luffy's usual idiocy.

"So, that's why he's no good with girls... He's dating a man." the green haired man continued.

"A cop."

"You remember the one that caught us doing stupid things all the time when we were little?" Zoro asked.

"Yes, of course I do. He was awesome, when he wasn't pissed."

"Well, I think you remember that he's my uncle right." Luffy nodded, so Zoro continued talking:

"That cop, my uncle, is your brother's boyfriend."

"Oh, Zoro! Awesome, really!" He jumped up and down, and turned towards the other man, realizing something.

"Does that makes the two of us family!?"

Zoro raised an eye brow and frowned a bit, but ended up smiling.

"Yeah, I guess. Why not?" he said and ruffled his friends black hair. Luffy always had a way lifting his spirits, even after the worst days.

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_**Important news a bit below:**_

**Chapter 6 folks!**** The relations of everybody gets even more twisted, but that's the way people like it, aye? I'm trying to kill my writer's block, but seven will be delayed. I can't tell for how long. Sorry.**

**Kind of fun in a bad way; I got 8 reviews on the last chapter, as it is today, and in 6 of them, there could be read "poor Sanji!".  
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**Right, for the news then: I have been thinking a lot about giving Smoker and Ace a proper story about how they met and eventually fell in love. It will take quite a big space in the story, so I will publish it in a separate story, named "The wrong side of the Law". I will release the first chapter the Thursday 5/11. **

**Feel free to (please) read it if you liked "To be that someone that you're with". You don't have to read it to be able to follow the storyline in this piece, but you might get a bit confused since they talk about 'the event two years ago', which this other story will cover up. **

**Of course, that story will be ****label SmokerAce, and won't include any ZoroSanji, but they will still be joining in the character cast. I hope you like it, I certainly love to write both pieces of work. **


	7. Preparations for a new life

_Chapter 7 – Preparations for a new life_

**Hi. Remember me? It have been way to long time since I last updated this; partially because I have loads of school work, a case of swine flu-ish illness and the fact that I have been writing my a** of for "Wrong side". But, I thought it was time for an update. // SlowSunrise**

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Zoro heard the signals from Luffy's cell phone even though the black haired boy held the phone close to his ear. _Beep. Beep. Beep. _Eventually he heard someone on the other line answer, but he couldn't grasp anything that the female Luffy had called said, although, from the facial expression that passed over Luffy's face, it seemed that everything was going as planned.

"Then, can we meet you somewhere? Todaaay?!" Luffy's voice really gave away how happy he was, just as usual. Zoro couldn't help but smile as his friend nodded to the phone, forgetting that the girl couldn't see him. After overcoming the communication, problem Luffy smiled even more and turned toward Zoro.

"She is meeting us in the park!"

Zoro smiled at him, but shook his head.

"You idiot..."

They walked down along the trail to the park, where they were supposed to be meeting the girl. Zoro would never admit it, but if it weren't for a kind old woman who pointed out that the park was in the completely opposite that they were walking, they would probably have missed her. Zoro's sense of direction was one for the record books, but he would never, in his life, admit it.

She sat waiting for them on a bench in the middle of the park. It wasn't strange that she had arrived first, considering Luffy and Zoro's side trip, but it didn't seem as if she had been waiting for long time. Luffy stopped dead when he first saw her sitting alone and he hid behind one of the smallest bushes around. Zoro let out a small laugh, and boxed him on his shoulder.

"Look, Casanova, if you're not talking to her, she won't ever talk too you. That's how those women work."

Luffy looked over towards her, and a single 'oh' escaped from his mouth as he saw that she was looking at him, laughing with what he thought sounded like a golden voice. He went up from his indiscreet hiding place and walked up towards her. Luffy looked over his shoulder to see if his body guard was still following him. Zoro just nodded for him to continue, but he did walk after Luffy.

"Hello?" the orange hair girl tried, as Luffy had stopped just in front of her, swinging back and forth on his feet. He gave her a goofy smile, but he had the tact to at least answer her greeting.

"Hello~, Nami!"

Zoro guessed that he had to do something, so he took a step forward and nodded his head.

"Morning..." he mumbled, hiding an yawn. "I'm Zoro."

Nami's eyes searched him, from head to heavy boot, and Zoro could see that she wasn't sure what to say. Her eyes lingered unusually long on his hair. He was past the age when green hair was the most amazing thing in the universe. He had tried to color it black once, but that had been a disaster. As he didn't know what he was supposed to do with the hair, he let it be as it was, just keeping it as short as possible without shaving it off.

"Well, good morning, on both of you. I'm Nami." That was addressed to Zoro.

"Aren't you kind of late?" She turned to Luffy with a wondering gaze. "You said on the phone you were just five minutes away, and that was over twenty minutes ago."

Luffy stopped swinging on his feet, almost falling backwards when he stopped abruptly, and took a seat on the bench next to the girl.

"You had to wait long time for us?" he asked and once again wore his kicked puppy-look.

Zoro still stood a bit from them, but it was clear that this girl was affected by his friend's look. He smiled at them, both of them as unsure what to do about the other. At least it was clear that Luffy had finally succeeded in something that was not a food eating contest, because Zoro could clearly see that the girl liked him. He waved Luffy over to him, and leaned down a few centimetres, talking to him in a low voice.

"I have a few things I have to do before it gets to late." he said and nodded at Nami. "So, why don't you spend some time with the girl, alone?"

"But, Zoro, it is hardly lunch time. It's not getting late in a long time." Zoro closed his eyes and sighted very discreet. Luffy was hard to work with sometimes.

"I just mean, I have to do very many different..." He was interrupted by Nami pulling at Luffy's sleeve to his jacket.

"Come on, Luffy. Let's go. You can show me your town." Luffy suddenly forgot all about Zoro, and jumped after his date, because that was, at least in Zoro's eyes, a fitting term for them. Zoro hurried away, looking back over his shoulder at Luffy as he pointed at everything and nothing and told Nami about them along with big movements with his arms and very exuberant facial expressions.

Luffy's comment about lunch reminded his stomach that he had skipped breakfast, so he turned left after leaving the park, heading towards one of his favourite restaurants. The awning was in a classical cut, coloured in red and white. The inside looked like an American road restaurant.

In Zoro's opinion, they had the best lunch menu in town. The only down side to the restaurant was that it was way to far from his father's house for him to go there regularly, but now that he had moved in to his uncle's house he could go there more often.

He opened the white painted door and the little bell attached to it rung with a faint sound. The restaurant smelled strongly of cheese, coffee and frying oil. Zoro breathed in the familiar smell. Some people might have backed away because of the strong aroma, but Zoro took a seat at the counter, back facing the big window. He took a deep breath and tried to stop the world. With Luffy's welcomed distraction gone, the problems seemed to jump back on him like irascible dogs. He imagined a small remote control and kept pressing the stop button as hard as possible.

The woman behind the counter looked up from polishing the beer mugs and greeted him with a smile.

"It's been a while since I last saw you, Roronoa. Everything fine with your dad and uncle? I never see any of you three anymore. Your uncle used to eat here all the time, but..." She stopped her monologue and looked at Zoro.

"You're not feeling well, are you?"

She put the rag away, and drew out a stool from under the counter and placed herself opposite to the green haired man. Zoro rested his head in his hands, elbows on the counter.

"Not really, the world simply moves on, and I'm having trouble keeping up."

The bartender laughed, bent over to the small fridge she kept behind the counter and picked up a glass bottle of Coca-Cola. She popped up the cap and put the bottle next to the distressed boy.

"It's on the house. Drink, and tell me why I have a sulking boy at my bar. You're way too young to drown your sorrows, and it's only lunch time." She crossed her legs and leaned forward. Zoro threw a glance at the bottle and a faint smile crossed his face, but he didn't say anything as he grabbed the soda and took a few gulps.

"Come on boy", the woman demanded. "The world's moving on without you? Last time I checked, you weren't seventy. Tell me what's wrong."

Zoro looked into the eyes of the woman, He didn't know her that well, yet she sat and interrogated her like he was visiting Oprah. He drank some more cola and said:

"No, dad got in some trouble, and therefore, I'm in some trouble too." He paused, unsure if he should explain more, but choose not to.

"I moved closer, so I might visit more often. But you won't see my dad." She raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to continue the questioning, but Zoro looked her straight into her eyes. She swallowed hard and nodded. That look simply stated 'end of discussion'.

"Now," Zoro said, and slowly a neutral smile became visible on his face. "could you prepare a ham plate? I'm damn hungry."

After lunch, Zoro walked on down the street towards the bus station. He was to keen to walk all the way to his dad's house in this cold weather. The bus was full of people, and the heater was on the highest temperature so Zoro almost started to sweat, despite it being close to 0°C outside. The bus slowly moved towards his destination, and, almost an hour after he entered it, he squeezed himself out of the full bus. His lungs hurt for a second, inhaling the cold air.

It was only the end of October, but he wouldn't be surprised if it would start snowing one of these days. Putting his hands into his pockets, he started walking down the small streets of the familiar neighbourhood. It was a short walk, but Zoro took his time to really take in all the small houses and the gardens, now filled with frostbitten plants. He had grown up in those streets, and he had played in many of those gardens. Now, it felt like he was giving his last farewell.

His father's house was at the end of one of those small streets, and he picked up the key he had in his pocket. It had only been a day since he last been there, but it still felt as if he were walking in to a ghost house. The door didn't creak, and he didn't get any spider webs in his face, but he was met by a great silence. He walked in without taking his boots off and looked around the familiar room. The worn leather chair in which his father always sat and watched TV late at night, the book cases filled with boring books by authors Zoro never had heard of, and even some that his literature teachers had never heard of either, all of them belonging to his father.

Zoro didn't want anything to do with any of it, and he turned on his heel, only to face something else he didn't want to see at the moment. Hanging on the wall were several framed photos of him and his dad, a few of them together, and others where they were alone. Zoro turned his eyes away. Even if it was only photos, he couldn't look his father in the eyes at the moment. Quickly, he went into his own bedroom, picking up a big rucksack and stuffing it with as much clothing as he could press into it. Remembering the temperature, he was careful to make sure that his luggage contained a warm cap and a pair of gloves without holes in them.

Looking around the room, Zoro went to see if there was anything else worthwhile for him to grab. His eyes fell on his school books, a novel by Matthew Reilly, and the black case containing his swords. The books and the novel went down in the rucksack, but Zoro hesitated one moment over whether he should bring the swords or not. It was his father who had taught him almost everything he knew about swordsmanship. He self-taught too, but when he gripped the hilt of one of the swords, images of him and his dad out in the garden appeared in front of his eyes, and his father's voice echoed in his head.

'You have to practice everyday Zoro, and then one day, you will be the best'. Zoro closed his eyes and nodded faintly. His father's words were true, and he decided to bring them, despite what uncle Geoff thought about it.

After a visit to the bathroom to grab a toothbrush, toothpaste, and shampoo to put into the last free space in the rucksack, Zoro left the house and securely locked it again, putting the key back into his jacket pocket. He would have to return to the house some day, but for now he was more concerned with catching the next bus so he wouldn't have to wait another half an hour in the cold weather. It was getting darker, and he wanted to get back to Smoker's place as soon as possible.

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Returning into the heat of his uncle's house what seemed ages later, he put his boots next to all the other shoes in the hall way. They all stood in a mess, over each other and up-side-down in piles. Three men living together seemed to become a problem. Zoro prayed that he wasn't going to have cleaning duty.

After putting the big rucksack and the sword case away next to the sofa, he walked in to the kitchen. He located Ace on one of the kitchen chairs. The black haired man held his hands around a cup of hot coffee and looked out of the window with a frown on his face. Zoro knocked on the door frame to indicate his arrival. Ace spun around, startled by the sound. He relaxed when he saw it was Zoro, and nodded to the chair next to him.

"Coffee? Geoff made some a while ago."

Zoro smiled carefully and nodded as he poured a cup and sat down beside Ace. Luckily enough, his uncle was more skilled than Ace when it came to work in the kitchen. He drank half the cup in silence. Neither of them said a word or looked at each other. Ace looked out on the dark sky and Zoro focused on a spot on the wall.

"What a drama we have before us." Ace said slowly, as if he was talking to the stars that were appearing on the night sky. Zoro just nodded and drank more coffee. Smoker appeared behind them and said with a tired voice:

"He fell asleep, finally."

Zoro turned his head, looking at Smoker.

"He's sleeping here?"

Smoker nodded and continued.

"He'll stay here a couple of weeks. I won't allow him to be alone, and he can't pay his rent is that state he is now."

Zoro bit his lip and drank the last of the coffee in the cup. He wondered if his life could be any more fucked up.

He doubted it.

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**Might have been a little slow, but it's in the middle between the events. Live with me a little longer. My writer's block is gone, and I'll have loads of time in the following week. Now, send me some love in a review!**


	8. Like a wing clipped Eagle waiting to fly

_Chapter 8 – Like a wing clipped__ eagle, waiting to fly_

Standing just outside the room where Smoker had put Sanji, Zoro leaned against the door post and looked at the thin figure curled up in a ball on the borrowed mattress. Fate must be having a great fucking laugh right now. It was almost as if he could hear a distant giggle behind his back. Frowning, he closed the door with an unintentional slam. From the other side of the door, a soft mumble was heard. Afterwards, high-pitched snores replaced the mumbling, and Zoro raised an eyebrow at the annoying sounds. Was that really the hurt boy making those noises?

Shrugging his shoulders, Zoro tilted his head to both sides to release the tension that had been building up in his neck during the day. He'd spent too much time thinking last night, and he needed to get some sleep before school started again tomorrow morning, so he made himself a promise that he wouldn't think of Sanji during the night. Just a few seconds later, he broke his promise as he began to wonder if Sanji attended the same school as him, but the following second he realized that he must, since there was only one school in Grand Line. He was fairly convinced that it was the truth, unless the blonde attended some border school, although this wasn't such an outrageous idea.

The blonde had a suave aura around him. A sort of an elegant way, or something the green haired boy couldn't place his finger on. More thoughts about the other boy sneaked into Zoro's mind. As he stood in the bathroom and brushed his teeth, he leaned his head against the mirror. Taking a deep breath, he imagined himself breathing out all the thoughts about Sanji. No more thinking about anything to do with the slim, hurt, pretty boy blonde.

Spitting out the tooth paste into the sink, he looked into the mirror and saw his dark eyes with obvious bags under them. He yawned, and decided that the only sane thing to do was to try and catch some sleep on the sofa.

Well under the covers, Zoro closed his eyes and relaxed, mind finally blank. A whistling noise made Zoro quirk one eye open, and look around. It didn't feel like a window was opened, so it wasn't the wind that made the sound.

Was it, was it...? Oh, fuck no. It was snoring, which slipped out from Sanji's room with even timing.

Zoro turned over on his side and mumbled something about a damn blonde with a hazy voice as he put his pillow over his head and shut his eyes tight.

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The Zoro that met Smoker and Ace at the breakfast table the next morning wasn't the best looking Zoro that ever graced their presence. Dark circles had found their way under his eyes, and his gaze was set somewhere in the far distance and his jaw hung slack. Ace looked at him, and wondered how the hell someone with such short hair could make it look so tousled. In his eyes it looked like he'd had a rough night. Bad dreams, or something else?

"Morning Zoro." the black haired man said, but only got a short mumbling as an answer.

Smoker looked over the edge of the newspaper he was reading, shifting his gaze between Zoro, and Ace at the coffee machine. He couldn't decide what the most urgent problem was, Zoro's obvious lack of proper sleep or the fact that his fiancé was within a meter from the coffee maker. Looking first at what would hurt him most he folded the paper and rose up, putting his arms around the freckled man, thus preventing him from moving his arms and doing any damage.

"You'll talk with mister dark lord over there, and I'll make us all some coffee. Zoro really looks like he could need some." Smoker said to Ace and kissed his cheek.

Ace himself looked a bit doubtful, as he thought that Smoker was better fitted for the mission of talking to Zoro.

Placing himself on a chair next to the grumpy boy, Ace could see a certain resemblance between the uncle and the nephew. Smoker's usually frowning forehead must have passed right down to Zoro.

"Slept well?" the black haired man asked, and added a cupful of irony. He was met by a pair of dark eyes with even darker rings under them. Zoro said nothing but a faint growl as he went back on staring down on the table. Ace raised an eye brow, and leaned forward towards the tired teenager.

"Come on, Zoro. What's the deal with looking like a vampire?" Ace said, trying to lighten the situation in his characteristic way. Smoker added in from his side of the room:

"You're not into this Twilight-hysteria, right?" he said, playing on the worried voice of a parent.

Both men were rewarded with a faint smile from the boy. Zoro rubbed his hands over his face to make himself wake up from his daze. The machine Smoker was handling spat out coffee and the grey haired man placed a full cup in front of his nephew.

"Drink.", he said and gave Ace another cup. Zoro glanced at the other man's cup, and withheld a giggle. It was an ordinary white cup, but with big black letters printed on it. When Ace took up the cup to drink from it, Zoro read the words and smiled. Somehow, the words "Part Time Criminal Mastermind" were more fitting to Ace than something else. He remembered Luffy's words about his brother, and nodded slightly for himself.

"Great cup, Pyro", Zoro said and smiled. It seemed like the simple word had a great effect on the black haired man because he sprayed coffee all over the table. He was slightly pale, and stared at Zoro. Also, Smoker had turned and looked straight into Zoro's eyes.

"You know?" Smoker said, trying to keep a steady voice. The though that someone might know about Ace's least said shady past had always haunted him, but as the years went by, he left the matter to be.

"Well, yeah. Ace had a couple of..." Zoro paused, and let his mind drift back to his past for a second. "Didn't we call them _adventures_, uncle Geoff?" he continued, with a teasing voice. Looking at the tense man next to him, he felt a bit guilty.

"Don't worry. I won't tell a soul. I have kept this secret for over two years, I'll manage to continue that."

Ace nodded, and whistled in a low tune. He relaxed, and it was noticeable how the man had tensed all him muscles.

"You seem to have a rival here, _Smokey_." Ace said, to lighten the situation. It had been ages since he used the nickname Smokey.

The police officer didn't seem to notice what Ace said. Instead, he muttered something about Zoro.

"Two years?" he finally asked his nephew.

"Two years. Why do you ask?" Zoro asked.

"Because, by that time a certain _brat_ made my life annoying as hell. Now you are coming to me, and saying, you knew who he was?" Smoker mumbled.

"Aww, come on, honey", Ace said and got up from his chair and snuck over to Smoker.

"You had fun, and you _did_ catch me..." He said and reached up to kiss the bigger man's cheek.

"You were the one hunting Ace? Now I see why he never got caught!" Zoro's bad mood was gone with the wind. Now he sat at the dinner table and laughed at the twists.

"The only one I haven't dragged to the police station…" Smoker said, sighing.

"Wow, never knew…" Zoro said as he stopped laughing. It seemed as if the two of them had more than one secret.

"But", Ace said and turned from Smoker to face Zoro. "how do you know?" Smoker nodded, and looked at his nephew with his mouth twisted in a half angry, half curious shape.

Zoro waited for a second before he nodded in Ace's direction.

"His brother told me that two years ago. I just haven't thought about it. And I did promise him not to tell anyone." The last sentence was directed to Smoker, but it seemed that Ace took it in just as much as he did.

"You know Luffy?"

"My best friend. I met with him yesterday actually. We talked about you." Zoro said, a bit surprised that Ace didn't know who he was. But on the other hand, it was just yesterday when he had figured out who Luffy's brother really was.

"Not only did your brother know, but Zoro to. Damn, is it just me who is too slow?" Smoker whined. He ruffled Ace's hair with the beginning of a smile. "Lucky for you, it proved that it was worth that stain on my reputation..." Smoker sighed and closed his eyes. It looked like he was thinking back on the times where his thoughts were always focused on the mission to catch the dreaded criminal that later became his fiancé. Ace was also silent, and suddenly the house was completely quiet.

Thinking over that sentence again, Zoro turned around and looked through the door out to the living room. The snoring that had kept him up for most of the night had gone silent a while ago. Had the boy woken up?

"Where is _he_?" Zoro asked, and tossed his head lightly towards the door.

Smoker suddenly looked tenser, but he shrugged his shoulder and answered:

"I think he is sleeping?"

Zoro hesitated a moment, but nodded.

"I guess so. Just wondered since I haven't heard his terrible snoring for a while. That kept me up during the whole damn night!" Zoro muttered, on his way to slip back into his dark mood. Ace noticed the slight change, and decided to flee from it. He walked over towards Sanji's temporary bedroom with the words that he would check up on him.

Smoker grunted as Ace escaped, but he sat down next to Zoro and cleaned up the coffee Ace had sprayed over the table just before.

"Cheer up, Zoro", he said, not looking at the boy. "It will be okay."

"Tsch, don't be stupid, Uncle Geoff. I'm okay." Zoro muttered as an answer. His pride lifted him up, and he faced his uncle.

"I'm stronger than that."

Smoker was just about to say something about the importance of letting oneself feel weak, but he never got to that point.

A loud voice rang through the hallway, and startled both of them.

"SHIT, Geoff. He is gone!" Ace came rushing into the kitchen, waving a panicked hand towards the other room.

"What?" Smoker immediately forgot about Zoro, and stood up too fast, accidentally pushing his chair to the floor. "Gone?"

Ace nodded violently, and took a few slow, deep breaths.

"The window was opened." he said more calmly. "We gotta go looking for him, now."

"Yes sir, Officer Ace." Smoker said as he tossed the dish rag into the sink and walked quickly into their bedroom to put proper clothes on. The sweatpants and the old concert t-shirt worked at home before work, but it was nothing he would step outside in.

Ace did the same as him, but he removed the top pile of ironed clothes and pants with crease, and dragged out an old pair of cargo pants; black with a brightly coloured orange belt still tucked into the hoses. Smoker lifted an eye brow as he saw what attire Ace was putting on, but he kept quiet. It seemed like his old time friend "Dawn Pyro" was back on track again for this special occasion.

Ace's head pressed through the collar of a worn out t-shirt, and looked at Smoker with a stern smile.

"I'll go ahead, and as soon as I see anything I'll give you a call." He patted the cell phone in one of the many pockets on the cargo pants.

Smoker grabbed a fist of fabric around Ace's shoulder, and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Be careful now, brat! I have enough trouble without you messing up."

Ace grinned as he walked out to the hall to put a pair of big combat boots and a big jacket on. Opening a closet, he plucked out a dusty hat, the same bright colour as his belt.

"Hello, I haven't seen you in a while…" he whispered to the hat as he tied the strap around his chin. Calling over his shoulder, he ensured Smoker:

"Don't worry, sweetie. I never get caught."

With those last words, he closed the door behind him and jogged out on the street. Breathing, faint, light steam erupted from Ace's mouth. Ace muttered under his breath, cursing the chilly weather, and at the same time cursing it for not being colder so it would snow. The mission of finding Sanji quick would be easier if he had been able to track him through traces in the snow.

Zoro had been sitting still from the moment of Ace's loud announcement, and it wasn't until said man closed the door behind him with a slam that he woke up from his coma like condition.

"Zoro", Smoker shouted, walking out of his bedroom, dressed in his uniform, minus a few details such as the belt with equipment and the black tie. Nevertheless, there was a pair of pilot sunglasses hanging from his chest pocket.

"Zoro," he repeated. "Get dressed now. I have something over here that I want to show you." The police officer sounded even more stressed now that Ace was away too. Zoro got up from his chair, and not bothering to put his coffee cup away, he walked into the bathroom where he had put his bag the other night, and put on a pair of jeans, a shirt with his school's emblem and a hooded sweater over it to keep the heat.

Smoker called for him again, pleading him to hurry up. Zoro threw a look at his tooth brush, but ignored the taste of a nights sleep in his mouth. Maybe it was really important to get going. Following Smoker's voice, Zoro walked out in the hallway and through a thinker door leading out to the garage. A lone car, decorated with the police symbol took up most of the space, but there was also a fair load of old garden tools, a broken shelf that Smoker had been meaning to fix for over a year now and a variable amount of dusty plastic bags.

Smoker threw three of them to the other side of the garage and revealed a big dark being covered in a grey wrapping made out of plastic.

Zoro took another step in, trying to see what it was in the poor light.

"I was going to give it to you when you turned eighteen, but if you promise that you'll do some good with it, you can have it now." Smoker said, not looking at Zoro, as he pulled the cover of. Dust flew up in the air and created a thin wall of white powder. It was even harder to see what the black thing was now, but it smelled like oil. Swishing his hand in front of his face, Zoro walked over and coughed, partially from the dust, but mostly from the surprise.

"I'm giving you a whole lot of responsibility now, boy." Smoker said with a low voice, looking into the eyes of Zoro to check that his message went through.

"So, please help me look for Sanji?" He pressed the button on the car key and the police car beeped approvingly. Before Smoker climbed into the car he pressed a button on the wall, bringing the garage door slowly upwards. As he opened the door to the driver's seat, he looked up.

"The keys are in the bowl on the shelf. Have fun." He slammed the door closed and backed out of the garage, leaving Zoro alone in a now brighter garage. Revealed by the rays of the sun, Zoro now stood in front of an old model Harley Davidson. A motor cycle.

A smirk found its way to Zoro's lips. It was old, which could be seen not only by the thick layer of dust, but by the model too. Zoro guessed it was something from Smoker's youth, which made this present even better. A bike driven by his uncle needed to be good, as Smoker was picky with what vehicle he was driving. But, despite the age, not a single trace of rust could be seen on the bike. Smoker sure had been careful with it.

Drawing his hand along the saddle, Zoro felt the soft skin, and a sudden urge to feel the wind filled him. He remembered his uncle words about finding the lost boy.

To be honest with himself, he wanted as little do with Sanji as possible, since neither of them was really comfortable with the situation. Or 'uncomfortable'... they both hated it in different ways. Still, something inside of Zoro urged him to take the keys and go looking for him. Zoro wasn't a man of thoughts, but of instinct, so he found the pot on the shelf and took an old leather jacket from a hook on the wall along with a black helmet with eye protection.

Leading the bike out to the road, he felt it weight leaning against him. He hadn't trained in several days now. It something he usually did at least twice a day, and this served as a good reminder to pick that habit up again.

Swinging a leg over the machine, he felt the spring system pressing down without a single sound. He stroked the bike and smiled as he put the key in the ignition and twisted it around. The engine purred and he held it back with the breaks, enjoying the pure sound. He put the helmet over his green hair and shut the visor, thus concealing his smirk.

It had to be the best gift he had ever gotten. Or, hard to say. Zoro had had the exact same feeling when he first had sat down on the much smaller Honda motor cycle his father had gotten him for his sixteenth birthday, but that bike could in no way be compared to the one he was about to ride now.

Putting his foot on the platform, he started with a big 'wroom' from the engine. The Harley was heavier than his own bike, but not as hard to control as he thought it would have been. He cruised down around the corner, out on the main street. The wind was grazing his jacket, and he was happy he had put it on as it grew windier as he raised the pace. He loved the feeling of the speed. Other that an intense fight, this was his only way to achieve freedom. His mind had completely let all the thoughts of Sanji disappear along with the wind.

The biker reached the park, and he slowed down a bit, remembering Smoker's words about responsibility. As the engine started growling, Zoro could hear children's laughter, as well as a lone kid's loud crying. He raised the visor and looked towards the sound. There was at least five children not older than seven pushing around a weak looking boy; the source of the crying. The bullied boy's clothes were dirty with sand from the playground located in the park, and his bag with school books was lying on the ground, kicked away.

Stopping the bike and sighing, Zoro looked around to see if any of the children's parents were in sight, but his scan was rewarded with a negative result. The kids must be on their way based on what the time was, and apparently these kids walked there alone. Not such a good idea for the crying redhead in the middle of the crowd. He sighed once again and climbed off the bike. Leading it away from the small road, he leaned it towards a tree and took the keys out of the ignition, putting them in his pocket. He kept his black helmet on, but with the visor drawn back, as he walked towards the children.

"You think you are so cool? Look at that ugly t-shirt! It looks like a sack!" one of the bigger kids yelled into the face of the now quite scared redhead.

The only girl amongst the bullies continued with a high pitched voice, pointing her finger.

"Looooser!" The biggest kid grabbed the collar of the boy, laughing in his face.

"Look at his hair! It's like he is buuurning! Or carrots! U-G-L-Y!" he shouted, and the others cheered on him.

Zoro closed in on them, but none of them seemed to notice him. Hearing the comments about the hair colour of the weak boy, Zoro growled silently under his breath. Having red hair was nothing like growing up with a bush on your head.

"Oii, kids!" Zoro said with a loud voice, sneaking up behind the gang. The five children immediate looked up and were met by the sight of a tall, muscular man wearing a leather jacket and a dark motorcycle helmet. He fit into the description they had gotten from their parents over people they ought to stay far away from well. The girl in the gang turned pale, and the biggest of the boys who were holding onto the red-head's jacket let go, and the poor boy fell down to the ground with a thump. The child seemed just as scared as the others, not realizing that Zoro was on his side.

"Didn't your parents tell you not to pick fights?" Zoro said. He wasn't all that sure what to say, so he ran along with a safe card, talking about their parents.

"You-you're not a police officer! You can't stop us!" the oldest boy yelled, now with a voice as high as the girl's. "My dad is a police so he can have you arrested! I can tell him you hit me!" he finished with a special kind of big, mean smile, the one only kids could bring to their face.

Zoro crouched down like a frog, eyes the same level as what seemed to be the leader of the bullies. The small brown eyes were filled with fear, as well as a will to fight.

"No, I am not a cop, but I get pissed much easier than one." Zoro smirked, piercing the boy with his black eyes. "I bet your daddy is a great cop, but I don't think that makes _you_ a great one. And on that note, I have been to the police station so many times, well, I don't think one more could hurt." Zoro left the meaning of the last sentence untold and to the boy's imagination.

"You see, I don't like it when people make fun of weak people. Nor do I like it when people tease others over their clothes. But, I really don't like it when you make fun of somebody's hair colour. That, kid, is bullshit." He said through his teeth, removing his helmet and thus revealing his short green hair.

"This is the way I was born, and I can't help it. If you want to insult me, insult me for something that I have control over. My clothes, my accent, my weakness, but not the way I was born."

The boy opened and closed his mouth. He obviously had no idea how to counter Zoro's speech. By the sound of it before, the comment about his father being a police officer usually got him what he wanted. And the combination of Zoro's massive body, his black stare and the saying about him being a frequent visitor at the the police station made him more scared than he wanted to admit. Turning around on his heel, he showed with his hand that the other four kids were to follow him, and they did as their leader told them to.

The redhead rubbed a finger under his nose before he looked up at his saviour. Zoro had already stood up and put on his helmet again, and was about to leave when the little boy spoke.

"Are you a superhero?" he asked with a small voice. Not letting the now masked man away from his gaze, the boy stood up and brushed away the sand from his knees.

Turning his head around, Zoro smirked. "Sort of, maybe." he said with a smile. That was the best comment somebody had given him in a long time. Sure, he could play along with the boy's dream.

"Can I be your side kick?" was the direct come back from the boy. His voice was filled with hope, and Zoro dropped his head just a little bit.

"No, I work solo." Zoro said with a shake of his head. "And you would need to train a lot more." he added truthfully. The redhead sighed, as though the idea of exercise was impossible.

"I guess... I just wanted to be a hero."

"Then train more. If you're strong enough, you can be.", Zoro said as though it was the simplest thing in the world. He turned his head around and started walking away from the boy.

"Bye, Hero!" the boy shouted after him. "When I grow up, I'll be just like you and save everyone!" The boy's words reminded Zoro of something else that required a 'hero'.

"Oii, kid! Have you seen a tall, thin blonde about eighteen, maybe twenty? Probably no jacket…" Sanji was still not found, and somehow, the boy's words had woken up that instinct to save him.

The boy nodded and pointed in a direction on the other side of the playground.

"He was smoking and sniffling. It looked like he was sick." the redhead said. Thinking for a second, he added: "I think he was heading for the bridge over the river."

The boy didn't understand what that meant, but Zoro did just too well. Under the helmet, he bit his tongue and a skipped a small heart beat. The big bridge...

He threw a quick 'thank you' back to the clueless boy as he sprinted back to his bike. Tearing it away from the tree, he threw his leg over it just as old western movie stars swung their legs over their horses. He fumbled with the key, not able to fit it in to the ignition. He bit his tongue one more time and forced himself to breath normally. Finally being able to turn the key and start the engine, Zoro slammed down the visor and speed away up along the street where the boy had pointed.

Keeping one eye focused on the road ahead and one on the surroundings, He scanned the pavement and beyond for a skinny blonde. He raced along the shortest path to the bridge, not bothering searching for Sanji on the small streets. If the man wasn't to be found on the bridge, that could be done then, but only then.

The bridge was built over the broad river, marking the outer border on the east part of the town. On the other side of the wild water was only a road heading straight in to the forest located there. Since the road was what most people would call a dead end, the traffic out here consisted of the people living in the houses near the border and a few truck drivers, or somebody else with a rare reason to travel out of Grand Line into the forest.

Zoro hoped that nobody would suddenly step into the street in front of the bike, because at this speed he wouldn't be able to stop. He doubted that he would even be able to detect the person before he felt the bump. The engine roaring and the swift wind filled his ears. If Smoker had seen him at this speed, he would certainly loose his drivings licence.

He sighted the peak of the bridge, designed to resemble, but not copy, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and raised his pace even more.

There was a speed bump just before the bridge, but Zoro ignored it and he and his bike flew over it and landed smoothly on the road two meters ahead. He tried to look out on both sides of the road to detect the boy that was supposed to be here. The bridge wasn't all that long, but it was built on a considerable hight so if the boy already had jumped, there wouldn't be much hope left for him.

It was the tie that gave him away.

Standing behind one of the pillars holding the bridge's construction up, Zoro couldn't see the thin man, but his tie was waving in the wind like a flag calling "Here I am". Controlling the bike with a single hand, Zoro opened the visor with his other to get a better look. Racing the last bit, he saw more and more of the boy behind the pillar. There was a short fence and a walking path between them, but there was no way Sanji couldn't have heard him coming up the road, yet he still stood like a stone figure, his hair and clothes the only thing moving.

"Sanji!" Zoro shouted as he stopped on the bike, and killing off the engine.

"Sanji!" he roared again. The wild water under them and the beginning of a strong wind was muffling his word, but a slight twitch in the boy's body gave away the fact that he had heard the scream.

"Sanji, listen to me!" Zoro shouted for the third time. He kicked out the kickstand. Carefully taking a couple of steps closer to the low chain-link fence, he tried to remembered all the movies he had seen where a character had been on his or her way to suicide, and then what the hero had done to prevent it. The result of his brain scan was that the hero usually shouted a loud "I love you", but somehow Zoro doubted that that would be a sufficient solution. The only 'real' use his movie experience was giving him was to never rush over to the desperate person on their way to jump.

Leaning over the fence, but still staying on the far side of it from the other boy, Zoro muttered to himself. This was what Smoker had been educated to do, not something an ordinary teenager knew anything about.

"Your parents wouldn't like this end for you." He tried the same card as he had played whilst talking the kids out of the fight.

Sanji's head spun around and a lone eye, fierce and angry, met Zoro's. It looked like a stormy ocean waiting to drag down at least a couple of ships. It hadn't struck him before, really how blue the other boy's eyes were.

"My parents wouldn't like this end for me?" he repeated Zoro's words. "Then why did they choose this end for themselves?" Sanji shouted into the wind, and his blue eye cried soft tears. "My parents wouldn't have liked anything that happened to me! But they can't do anything! Because they are dead! They killed themselves! And left me behind!" Sanji's anger and sadness overwhelmed Zoro. The lone boy was standing on the edge of life itself, shouting out his feelings into the ever growing wind. His hair was flying up in his eye and uncovering the bandage around his other eye. Zoro bit his lip when he saw the everlasting reminder.

"You are alive!" Zoro said, unable to find the right words.

"Not for too long!" was Sanji's fast answer. The eye stared straight into Zoro's black eyes. Nobody gave away even as the harsh wind burned their eyes and made small tears run down both of their cheeks.

"You are staying alive!" Zoro said with a strong voice. "You own Uncle Geoff and Ace that!" He paused for a second, but added: "Don't make them feel like you did when your parents died."

"Why do you care?" Sanji spat out, obviously touched by the mention of Smoker and Ace's names.

Zoro's eyes became, if possible, even darker.

"Don't think you are the only of who lost your parents..." he said in a normal tone, hardly audible over the wind. Though, looking at Sanji's facial expression, Zoro knew he had heard.

"Your father is obviously alive." Sanji spat.

"Oh, yes, what a lovely family I have. My father attacks young boys in alleys and rapes them. I guess he won't stay alive too long after what he did to you, not with this law system." There was a slight twitch in Sanji's healthy eye, but Zoro just continued.

"Then there is my mother. The police said I wasn't allowed to look at her dead body because of my age, but my dear father convinced them that I was old enough to look at the torn pieces of a body that once had been the person I loved most in the world. Well, ain't that just a great family?" He finished, drenching the last sentence in an overdose of sarcasm.

Sanji stood still on the edge, and if it hadn't been for him holding onto the bridge with one hand, he would certainly have been blown by the wind into the raging water of the river.

"So, I don't know, and I don't care what problems you have!" This time Zoro shouted over the wind again, and as Sanji stood as still as stone, Zoro took his chance and heaved himself over the fence, closing in on the blonde.

"But hell, you are not going to jump." Zoro said with a voice filled with too many different emotions. His plan about taking it easy (if you now could call that a plan) had failed, and his feelings had taken over. Now standing just a meter from the suicidal man, it was a battle of glares between the two.

Sanji bit his lip as he backed up a centimetre, still silent.

"Sanji", Zoro said with a soft voice, hoarse from screaming. He was close enough to talk normally now, and his throat appreciated it. "Don't jump, because I won't jump in after you."

"Well," Sanji said, and grinned, "screw you." He closed his eye, ignoring the few tears still falling down from it, and let go of the bridge, standing for a second, completely still on the edge.

It took Zoro less than an half second to spring forward. Once again, it wasn't something he gave a thought, but instead acted on instinct. The green haired man was correct about the fact that he wouldn't jump in after the blonde, but leaping forward an crashing him into the asphalt before he got so far as actually jumping of the bridge? That was no problem.

Sanji lost his breath as he was smashed into the pavement with a much larger body on top of his. As a reflex, he opened his eye with a moan of pain. This wasn't the bottom of the river, heaven, hell or whatever. This was another terrible experience. He felt the weight from the other man, and begun to panic.

"Get off me, get off me, you idiot." he hissed with a light voice that he would never again admit he had used. Zoro rolled over, and Sanji was quick up on his feet delivering a firm kick in the other man's guts.

Zoro hissed and coughed, but Sanji had been almost as affected by the kick as his victim had been. Zoro's stomach had been rock hard, even for a fighter like Sanji. The blonde raised an eye brow at the strangely green haired man who lay on the ground. When his coughing fit was over, the man had begun laughing like a fool, looking up at him.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Zoro said whilst continuing laughing.

A block away, on the roof of one of the last houses before the bridge, a raven haired man sat crouching and smiling. He hadn't been able to hear anything of what the boys had shouted at each other, but as he had been running faster and faster towards the bridge he had seen the whole act. Hoping to a god he didn't believe in, he prayed that Sanji would be okay. Seeing the blonde let go had made him skip a heart beat and almost fall down from the roof he was currently standing on. But as Zoro and Sanji tumbled down on the pavement, he had been mimicking Zoro's grin and picking up a cell phone from his cargo pants' pocket.

"He is okay, Smokey. He and Zoro are on the bridge.", he spoke into the cell phone. What he didn't say was that the two of them surely would have a strange future together.

A/N: _Ohohohoooo~ Long chapter, or what? I'll try to update this more often, and soon, Wrong Side will be finished as well, and after that, I'll have more time with this as this is far from finished!_

_Now, reviews please! And many of them!_


	9. Changes Made

_Chapter 9 – Changes Made_

"There is no way in hell that I am going to ride that shitty, mechanical monster!" Sanji said with a stern voice, crossing his arms in front of his chest. His visible eye was fixed upon the green haired man, who had stopped laughing like a maniac and now sat waiting on his dangerous looking motorbike. The other boy had broad shoulders and he was taller than most his age, the masculine appearance was boosted by the Harley Davidson.

"Sure you are." Zoro said with a small nod at the end. "I'm not leaving you here to do something. You need to get to a hospital. And I'm not going to be late for school. So, logic says that you would have to come with me, _now_." the green haired man continued with a never-ending bluntness.

The wind was still picking up, and Sanji kept moving his bangs away from his seeing eye, quite a hard task with an injured hand. There was something about the other boy that annoyed his spirit to no end. Maybe it was the fact that he had smashed him down onto the pavement only to laugh like a maniac and then get back up on his bike without a single question about how Sanji felt.

"I don't need _your_ help. Go play superhero somewhere else. Also, I don't need to go to a hospital! I'm fine." he muttered, avoiding the strong gaze the green-haired boy sent him. He still wasn't so keen on looking at that man's likeness.

"You don't need a hospital? Healthy people don't jump off bridges!" Zoro huffed back. "Sorry… you're hurt, and in shock. It almost feels like a storm is coming, and you need to get away from here. Seems like you don't have a choice, Princess."

"The fuck are you talking about?" the blond growled, starting to get genuinely pissed off.

"I can't leave you here, idiot eyebrow! You have any idea what uncle Geoff would do to me if I did?"

"Hey! You have no right at all to call me names. That freaking hair isn't natural! Neither of you have natural hair." Sanji shouted back, but Zoro threw him a glare that could burn holes through walls.

"Don't pair me up with _him_." he growled. His dark eyes were shadowed by the frowning brow.

"Why shouldn't I?" Sanji stabbed back at him, advancing a step. Smugly, Zoro grinned. Even if it probably was more of an invitation to a fight than a move to get up on the motorcycle, Sanji was at least not just standing over there anymore.

"Because I at least pretend to care about you. So get up on the bike. If you don't want to go to the hospital; fine! But you're not staying here to do something stupid again. I can drive you to school, if that _pleases you._"

"You should know that I hate your guts… but I'm doing this for Geoff and Ace." muttered the blond as he took some careful steps towards the boy and the bike. He swung a lean leg over the frame of the bike, still keeping himself as far away from Zoro's as possible. The green haired man turned the key and the engine started roaring.

"Hold on now." he said to the unwilling blond as he turned back to the road towards the school. Wrinkling his nose, Sanji slid closer to the teen and circled his torso with his healthy hand. His mind rambled on and on about how bad it was to be so close to the green haired male, but Sanji ignored his instincts and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he felt the smell of Zoro's worn leather jacked. Oddly, it reminded him of old apples, those you preferably used in apple pie, and strangely enough, it was almost comforting.

-o-o-o-

Relieved that the young man was okay, Smoker thanked Ace and put the cell phone back into his pocket.

Swallowing down the saliva that had started to gather in his mouth, Smoker pushed the doors to the police station open, marching in with careful steps. The ring on his finger meant that today was, well, the day he died. People would ask what "her" name was, and as soon as the name of Ace D. Portgas would reach Garp he was sure he would be brutally killed for touching, hell even just thinking about his boss's grandson.

"Are you a man or a mouse, Smoker?" he mumbled and headed to the reception desk to announce his arrival.

Behind the sturdy desk, a young woman sat and painted her nails while holding the phone between her shoulder and head, talking just as much with her voice as with her face and gestures. Apparently she was in the middle of a deep conversation involving martinis, a fancy car and someone's Calvin Klein underwear on someone else's kitchen table.

Smoker cleared his throat and coughed, not really tempted to hear more of the bizarre conversation. Somewhere in his mind, the words "women, pff" was heard, but his face showed as usual, nothing. The receptionist finally noticed his presence and put a hand over the phone after a quick, singsongy, "Be right back with you! I have compaaany". The gray haired man looked at her rather suspiciously at the last sentence.

"So, what can I do for _you_, officer Smoker?", she asked and fluttered with her mascara covered eye lashes, resting her chin in her hands as she leaned out a bit over the counter.

"Just tell Garp I'm here… I have something to talk to him about." he sighed, waving his hand in the air, walking away. The receptionist pretty much lived on gossip, and the sooner he got away from her, the better. Plus, she seemed to have an unpleasant habit of flirting with every good-looking male in the station every time she was single again (which tended to be way too often).

But, it seemed that he hadn't been quick enough, as he heard an eager, female voice stage-whisper as soon as she had fumbled the phone back to her ear; at the same time that she did this, she started to write a text on her cell phone with rapid speed.

"Guess which eternal bachelor just walked in through the front door with a fucking engagement ring around his finger? Clue: he's hot, ranked, and gray haired!"

Smoker grinded his teeth. At this point, all his colleagues would know everything before he even had set foot in his office. And right he was… He had only time to turn around the next corner before he got attacked to men and women rushing out from rooms along the hallway.

"Smoker, you old goat!" "So you finally scored?" "I can't believe someone would say yes!" "Who is she, Smoker?"

A thousand shouts and questions were mixed with wolf cries and hands doing wavy gestures in the air. At the end of the line, outside the door to his office, Melinda Tashigi stood with her arms crossed and a questioning gaze on the other side of her glasses.

"What have you now done?" she asked and showed the text which seemed to have reached the cell phone of every single soul in the police station.

_Smokey is getting married :-o Check out his ring! Think she's hot? ;-) Wished it was me :-((_

Throwing his head back, Smoker growled at the stupid receptionist. He must have done something really bad to her in another life. The room was filled with laughter and the ever present question: 'Who is she?' Turning around, Smoker looked into the face of ten, fifteen gossip hungry police men and women, waiting for him to give up on all the saucy details. It was the point of no return, and the gray haired man sighed.

"Yes, I am getting married." he breathed, already tired and longing to escape from the herd of people.

"But that's not reason enough to start an interrogation about him!" he said, frustrated, and hoping that it would shut them up, if only for a while.

That while only lasted for a few seconds, before some brave soul uttered: 'Him?', and with that, the chatter picked up its speed again. Turning to his female friend, still with her arms crossed, Smoker gave her a long glance, pleading for help. A grin showed up in the corner of Tashigi's mouth as she shook her head.

"You're all on your own~", she laughed, and winked her eye before she turned around and returned to her office.

"So, do I have to write a book about it, or can we get this over with quickly? I'll give you five questions." Smoker sighed, a sign that he was giving up.

"Does Garp know about it?" police aspirant Fullbody asked, taking the first step. His partner in crime, Django stepped forward so he was on Smoker's side of the wall of people blocking of the hall way. Not giving poor Smoker time to answer the first question, he slung the next one out in the air.

"How did you meet?" The thin man's eye brow seemed to wiggle up and down behind his ugly, heart shaped sun glasses.

Before someone else had the time to bomb the police man with more questions, Smoker rose two fingers up in the air, signalizing that they only had three questions left to ask.

"Garp does not know." he answered, adding in his thoughts; _and thank God for that, or I wouldn't be standing here today._ "He does not know, yet."

Looking over at Django, he gave it a second's thought about how much was safe to spoil, both for him and for Ace. He agreed with himself that the simple line of "through work" would suffice. Apparently, the crowd wanted more and many sighted and uttered an 'Awww…".

"Is he… hot?" one of the females asked, giggling and also a bit blushing. All of them looked like kids in front of a candy store, big eyed and awaiting sweets, not in the shape of lollipops or caramels but details of the shocking revelation of their stubborn, romance hating, grumpy, bachelor Smoker's boyfriend and fiancé.

"Yes," Smoker said matter-of-factly, knowing that such a question would only come from a woman. "He is… hot." he continued with a small laugh, and added a third finger to the collection, holding down his little finger with his thumb.

The same woman seemed to have another question, and this time, the blush had grown larger, covering most of her cheeks and the bridge over her nose.

"Who… who of you top…", she began, but Django, standing next to her, smashed her in the back of her head, and another woman filled up the now empty space.

"How long have you been dating?" she asked, knowing that it was a code word for 'how long have you been denying your ravishing gay life?', but showing off an innocent smile.

"Roughly two and a half years."

The answer was met by whistles, and a brave comment: "Are you sure? Because it sure seems like you haven't been laid in at least five?" People around laughed, and agreed, but Smoker himself did nothing but raising yet another finger, now just holding his thumb on his palm, showing that the crowd only had one question left.

Paulie, their newest recruit, stepped forward and asked the one question Smoker had dreaded, if you counted away prying into his sex life:

"What's his name?"

By the sudden change of look on Smoker's face, several smug grins appeared on the faces of the interrogators. Finally, they seemed to have asked the right question.

"Can't his… initials be enough?", the gray haired man asked, his mouth twisted in a mix between agony and laughter. Several heads shook in denial, and Smoker's head dropped slightly.

"Come on, Smoker. You have to tell us what's his name is." Fullbody said. "You are, for fuck's sake getting married, so no more secrets for you!"

"Ace." Smoker said, hesitantly looking around as it was the crowds turn to get a drastic change in facial features. Faces went pale and more than one pair of eyes drifted over towards Garp's closed door.

The female who had asked about Ace's looks uttered a faint: "_That_ Ace? Ace _Portgas_?" and Smoker nodded, biting into his cheek, his eyes also fixed on the door.

"You're in some deep shit, man.", Django stated. "You have been screwing the boss' grandson for over two years, and now this?" he continued and waved his ring finger, "He'll kill you."

"I know!" Smoker growled, his usual stern face back in place. "I have had two and a half years to think about this moment, so I don't think you can make it any worse for me right now. And, that was all the questions." he said and dropped down his hand with five fully extended fingers before he did a small little bow.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'll see you in hell."

Turning around, the gray haired man strode towards the wooden door and knocked on it twice. He heard a chair scraping against the floor on the other side, and Garp's voice asking 'Smoker?'.

Swallowing down his nervousness, Smoker entered the office, and closed the door after himself. His colleagues would without any doubt try to find out anything they could, but he didn't feel like giving it to them directly. They could look stupid, trying to lean with an ear close to the door, eavesdropping.

"So, Smoker, who's the lucky lady?" Garp laughed. He had obviously also received the text.

"I was coming to that part, chief... It is not exactly a lady..." Smoker stuttered, but was cut of by Garp's phone ringing on his desk. The police chief held up his hand and excused himself for a second and picked up the phone. Looking back at the door, Smoker pondered if he should make a run for it, before it was too late.

"Ace? Shouldn't you be in school?" Garp's surprised voice rang out in the room and made Smoker's heart stop. This couldn't be anything but bad, and now there was nothing that could save him. Garp's own grandson was going to confess that he was involved with Smoker.

"Now what? Officer Smoker? He is standing just beside me." Garp continued, seeming quite confused. "Why are you laughing, brat? Have you been drinking… on a Monday, Ace?"

It seemed as if Ace had more fun on his end of the line than Smoker had next to a frustrated police chief. Suddenly, Garp went quiet. No more growling or muttering. Smoker just waited for him to turn around and stab him with a cold stare.

"Engaged? To who?" Garp asked. _Ah, here we go._

"To_ him_?" Garp said, and spun around, staring at Smoker's hand. "I'll talk with you later, young sir." the old man snapped and put the phone back in its stand, thus ending the call.

"Officer Smoker..." he began, eyeing the man with an ice cold glare. "Is there something you would like to tell me?" Garp asked with a tune that made Smoker flinch a little. Not only did the not so very well hidden, threatening voice make him even more nervous, but there was something about the old man that reminded him of his bitch of a mother. Ah, his mother. Yet another one he would have to suffer to tell the news, of course, if he survived Garp.

"Yes, sir." he said after finishing his thought. He held his head high, but avoided Garp's eyes and looked out in the thin air instead. "I'm marrying your grandson."

"You're marrying my grandson." Garp repeated, fingers stroking his gray beard.

"Yes, sir." Smoker admitted. He felt sweat drops gather at the base of his neck. Damn it if it wasn't typical Portgas to call his grandfather himself, just to fuck with Smoker.

"Why shouldn't I kill you for touching him, Smoker?" the old man asked his officer with a sugar coated voice. You could almost see the fake halo above his head.

"Because I still need to kill him for ruining any chance of my survival by calling you." Taking after his boss, Smoker coated his voice with a fake falsetto. "And the fact that corpse white makes my hair look even paler."

Breaking out in laughter, Garp threw his huge arms around Smoker, drawing him into some kind of mix between a hug and a fox trap. Garp's knuckles rubbed Smoker's short hair as if the police officer was a young boy. Smoker was really fascinated that it had all been over so quickly. If it was over... He wouldn't put it past Garp to suddenly crush him after a second thought.

"Welcome to the family, lad!" Garp bellowed with laughter. He let the other man go and regained his seat behind his untidy desk. Looking up at Smoker, he got a certain look in his eyes which made Smoker swallow hard and think 'this is it'.

"Tea?"

"That's it?" Smoker was amazed. That Garp Monkey would let his son just run away and live his life, and getting married was a bit too much for Smoker to comprehend.

"Well," Garp nodded while sipping on the tea he had poured for himself. "you know the rules. Make him happy and he is yours. Hurt him, and you can start looking for jobs in Northern Asia... with both legs broken."

Smoker still said nothing, his jaw slightly hanging. Garp looked at the shocked man with his hard blue yes over the brim of the tea mug.

"I know what happened over the weekend, and I guess it isn't exactly easy on the whole lot of you. So I'm letting this slip. You deserve something, officer Smoker, and even if Ace wasn't really the thing I had in mind, I guess he'll do. Just do me a favor and make sure that Zoro boy doesn't get in too much trouble, will you? After all, family is important, even if you can't pick everybody yourself."

Garp spoke with a calm voice despite the topic that hid under his words. Smoker said nothing, but only nodded. He would make sure that neither Ace nor Zoro would suffer, no matter what other members of his family had done.

"I understand, sir." he managed at the end.

"That's good to hear. Now, you're free to go for the day, since I happen to know that you'll get a pretty unpleasant visit later this afternoon. About the boy." Garp said, leaning heavily against the words 'unpleasant and 'the boy'. Smoker bit his lip. As if he needed something to top this weekend.

"I'll see you tomorrow at work. Now go, I have a phone call to make to a certain young, freckled bastard."

Smoker nodded and left the room. As he closed the door after him, the small crowd that had gathered outside cheered and Django stepped forward to beg for the story about how he survived the lion's den. He just shook his head and started walk towards the front door. Tashigi stepped out from her office as he was about to walk past it, and the look she gave him spoke of trouble. Taking a detour into her room, the gray haired man sighed.

"What?"

She looked up at him and handed him a paper covered in official seals.

"Sir, you're not going to like the man who's visiting your protégé later today."

-o-o-o-

Taking the last turn before the school, Zoro slid up through the drive way and killed the engine with a twist of his hand. As quickly as possible, Sanji dismounted and straightened his ill-kept shirt in a attempt to make himself at least look a little better than the nervous wreck he was. The ride behind Zoro had been a bit too much for him.

"Well, I'll see you later. I promise I won't disturb you as long as you stay sane." Zoro grinned as Sanji drew his fingers through silk blond hair, covering as much as he could of his bandaged eye. Throwing a look full of pure hatred towards the leather clad teen, Sanji turned around without a word and started walking towards his classroom. There was no way he would stay close to that guy when he didn't need to.

"Dick head..." he mumbled as soon as Zoro had started his bike again to park it further away on the parking lot.

Walking in to the school yard through the heavy oaken doors, he looked up at the heavens and breathed in the air. There was still a strong wind blowing, but it wasn't as noticeable in the center of the town. The clouds moved fast thanks to the winds, but when they had passed, the sun shone down on the paved ground and the students running around towards their first class for the day.

It was a beautiful day. Sanji never really liked those classic summer days were everything was perfect and the sun shone upon the hero. He preferred life in picture, something the wind provided this day. Thinking back on his sentence, he hesitated. Maybe it had been a good thing after all, that the idiot moss ball head saved him. Maybe, just maybe.

Still with his face aimed to the skies, Sanji bumped into someone, causing him to wince in pain for the bruises that were hit. At least he didn't fall over. Taking his mind off the clouds and wind, he looked into the face of his long nosed friend. Said friend looked in disbelief at him first, before he threw himself around the blonde's neck.

"Sanji!" he laughed into his ear, voice balancing between happiness and depression. Breaking off the sudden hug, Sanji forced himself to manage a smile for Usopp. His friend shook his head, drying away the tears that threatened to break out.

"You look like shit, Sanji..."

And so did Usopp. It looked like the incident had struck almost as hard on him, but Sanji could understand that it must have been a shock for him to find them there, in that alley, and... Shaking his head to get rid of the memories, he looked Usopp in his eyes.

"I do?" he tried to laugh. "I know... But I'm back in business. And so you seem to be. Are you okay?" he asked, and showed that they ought to get going so that they wouldn't miss class. Their teacher wasn't keen on late students.

"As okay I can get, I guess. And you?" Usopp asked carefully. Sanji thought about his reply for a second or two. He was glad that Usopp wasn't going to hide under his bed for the rest of the year or longer. The boy had fragile nerves and you could scare him with the simplest of ghost stories, but Sanji knew that he cared too much about his friends to do that. Somehow, the chicken Usopp was a great hero.

"Well, it could be better I guess." Sanji finally said. He decided that it might be a good idea to leave out the drama that happened on the bridge not an hour ago, if Zoro decided to hold his tongue as well. "I'm staying with my neighbor, and his nephew. Who's a shithead. But I'll live."

"You'd better hurry," muttered Usopp. "or Mr. Kidd is going to kill you being late to Physics."

-o-o-o-

After parking his bike and making sure that the lock was safe, Zoro strolled into the school building with his natural easiness. Walking down the hallway, he thought about this utterly disturbed weekend, and what it would mean. Muttering, and kicking an empty Coca-Cola can that lay on the floor, he decided that it was a problem for later on. Looking out through the big windows, he spotted the now familiar blond walking and talking with someone else he recognized. Wasn't that Usopp? Shaking his head, Zoro gave up. This situation was way too complicated for its own good.

Opening his locker, Zoro took his books and took off the leather jacket, walking through the stream of students that hung out in the hallway, effectively blocking everyone's path. With a whole lot of 'excuse me' and 'let me through', Zoro pressed his way through towards English class. Ten minutes later, he was back at his locker, looking confused. He didn't remember turning anywhere.

Cursing under his breath, he looked up to find his friend not two meters away, sitting on one of the drinking fountains. Luffy was wearing his trademark smile and straw hat. Beside him stood the redhead Nami with a pile of different books in her hand.

"Zorooo~", Luffy bellowed, looking as ecstatic as ever, waving both his arms in the air. "Zoro! Come on, class is starting!"

"I know, I know!" he said as he scuffed his way through the crowd. He looked at Luffy and then the redhead, and back again, he raised an eye brow. Did Luffy's date actually work out?

"Hello again. A little lost?" Nami smiled, and was awarded with a faint smile and a soft muttering resembling a 'hello'. Another thing to worry about; Luffy actually getting a girlfriend. All those years, it had been just the two of them and no girls. Like Bonnie and Clyde, Only two Clydes, and no romance. Well, he could outlast her.

She glared at him, muttering something hardly audible about him being a brute. Zoro wasn't slow to respond with a vehement 'witch'. Luffy, who hadn't noticed anything as usual, still smiled and leaned against the wall with both his hands behind his head.

"But really, we should go to class. Do you have English too?" Nami wondered, coating her voice with fake politeness.

"We should. After you..." Zoro grinned, and bowed his head towards the frowning girl. He grabbed a hold of Luffy's arm and started walking, dragging the straw hat clad boy after herself and with Zoro tagging along. As much as he hated it, where Nami was, class was. And it was a bad thing missing too many classes, he had experience of that.

"Zoro! I got a text from Usopp before! He's telling us to have lunch with him later today!" Luffy suddenly said, as he walked backwards. Nami was still holding his arm, but the raven boy was facing Zoro.

"I don't know..." Zoro drifted off. Hadn't he seen Usopp with a certain blond he'd rather avoid?

"Pretty please~ He says he's bringing his friend too! I'll let you have my Jell-O!" Luffy begged.

"No you won't!" Zoro laughed. There was no way Luffy would ever give food away. If it stood between a chicken leg and the cure to cancer, the boy would still have trouble picking. Never-the-less, Zoro gave in to Luffy's demands after even more begging and his friend's famous puppy eyes. Still, he had an uneasy feeling about what would happen during lunch time.

-o-o-o-

And right he was. Luffy had told him that they were meeting in the cafeteria after their Math lesson, and as always, he jumped out through the door, despite the fact that Nami still held him with a firm grip. Zoro walked a bit behind them, shaking his head. Nami would have to amount to much more than she looked to be able to have an actually successful relationship with Luffy. If he hadn't known better, he would have guessed that you needed a cipher to understand him.

Strolling through the corridors Nami kept up a conversation with Luffy while Zoro ignored them, his mind elsewhere. The scene on the bridge replayed over and over, with Sanji staring straight into his eyes, falling backwards. The green haired teen was unsure where the hell he was supposed to place Sanji. The blond irritated him until his blood boiled, and it was way too obvious that he couldn't stand Zoro either. Yet, Zoro had saved him. And damn it if he wasn't one of the hottest idiots he knew, under all those layers of bandaged and bruises.

"Usopp!" Luffy shouted across the cafeteria, waking Zoro from his fantasies. The raven grabbed Nami's hand and dragged her with him in a zigzag pattern between the tables. Zoro halted when he saw who sat beside Luffy's friend at the table. It didn't seem like Sanji had seen him yet, so there were still time to turn around and run, but he guessed Luffy would go after him, so there wasn't really a choice.

"Usopp! This is Nami, she's totally awesome!" he stated proudly. A slight blush crept up on the girl's face, but she greeted the long nosed boy and his injured friend. The second of them smiled gently at her.

"Woah, Sanji! You have an eye patch like a real pirate! It's so cool!" Luffy continued, but the blond ignored him and addressed Nami instead.

"Oh, I haven't seen such a beautiful flower here in school before! Say miss, are you new here?" he swooned, and despite the fact that he sat down, his body wiggled in the chair. The redhead looked at him with a dumbfounded look and a bit away, Zoro's chin fell towards the floor. What the hell was that?

"I am new here, yes. Thanks." she finally replied as she took a seat opposite to the young gentleman. Luffy sat down too, beside Nami.

"My name is Sanji Black, my cute mellorine~", he said, and smiled more as Nami stretched out her hand to shake his. After a moment of consideration, he smiled goofily and gave her his left hand in an awkward twist. He showed his injured hand, still in plaster.

"I'm having a bit trouble with the other one right now."

Looking from the plastered hand to the cracked lip and the eye patch, Nami shook Sanji's left hand.

"As Luffy said, I'm Nami. Nice to meet you. But, how did you get so hurt?"

A slight twitch was seen on Sanji's face, and he looked away from the girl. Some of the other students around the other tables were looking at him too, some pointing and whispering. Rumors sure traveled fast. Averting his attention back on Nami, he shook his head.

"It's a long story, way too long to bother such a delicate lady. But, changing the topic back on you, could I perhaps have the honor of showing you around the school?" he asked, but she shook her head.

"I already have Luffy here for that. Ain't that right, Luffy?" She nudged him in his side, but the black haired boy had his face turned the opposite direction, looking for something.

"Ah, Zorooo. Come on!" he called when he spotted the green haired boy. He waved one of his hands to show where they were, as if Zoro would have missed the yelling boy. The instant Zoro's name left Luffy's lips Sanji froze and followed the gangly teen's line of sight. And there he was, walking towards them and looking like a thunder cloud. At least he took the seat furthest away from Sanji.

"You really can't stay away from me, can you?" The blond pierced Zoro, who sat down at the table like it was nothing. Well, maybe it was, but Sanji still preferred to not have the teen around him.

"You two know each other?" Usopp and Luffy said in chorus, each of them looking curiously at their friends.

"Unfortunately. That brute seems to be stalking me. " Sanji huffed, trying his best not to sound bothered.

"Like I can help that you can't take care of yourself. I think that you ought to be pretty thankful for me, after this morning." Zoro glared at him, spitting out the words.

"Don't you dare, shitty bush-brain, don't you dare!" he growled back, standing up from his seat.

Usopp, the only one beside the two of them that really knew what was going on, made a quick calculation in his head, added up two and two, and made it almost make sense.

"O-oi! You really shouldn't fight here. And you need to take care of yourself, Sanji! Calm down, please!"

"I can take handle that jock, Usopp!"

"Let him have it, Usopp! I guess he can't realize that he's actually _weak_!" Zoro stated with his chin shot out, eyes fastened on Sanji on the other side of the table. He stood up, with one foot on the chair.

It was the last drop before Sanji boiled over. Later, he regretted that he had done it in front of Nami, but at the time Zoro was the only thing in front of his eyes.

Bracing himself on his left arm on the table, he swung his body over it with a swift movement. The green haired boy hadn't been ready for him to do anything but yell, so he didn't have any time to avoid the sole of Sanji's shoe as it hit him square in the face. He tumbled over his own chair, but was soon back on his feet.

Sanji stood where he had been sitting just a minute ago, panting but in full battle stance, ready to place another kick at any given place on Zoro's body, preferably the face or the crotch.

Zoro's fingertip touched his lip, feeling the wetness of the blood Sanji's sole had drawn. He dried it of with the sleeve of his hoodie, taking slow steps towards the raging blond.

"So you're not all looks, huh? Still, if I had my swords here, you'd be decked on the floor in a matter of seconds." he grinned.

"Who the hell uses fucking swords nowadays?" Another kick came, aimed for his solar plexus. Zoro concentrated the half second he had, and remembered what his teacher had told him about the true spirit of a swordsman. If you were true to your profession, you were supposed to be able to block and attack even without a sword.

Now, Zoro was a good swordsman, but he didn't expect such power in Sanji's kick, even as it was the second one. Instead of throwing Sanji to the floor, he could barley remain his footing. Both Zoro and Sanji looked at each other again, but this time their eyes were full of surprise. Neither of them had really expected the other one to be any trouble, with Sanji being both skinny and injured, and according to said blond, the green haired buffoon looked like he was all power and no tactics.

"Hey, what's going on! You two, what are you doing?" Nami stuttered, her eyes following the two fighters like a tennis match.

"Oh, I am sorry my cute Nami~" Sanji directed his attention away from his sparring partner and immediately his anger was gone with the wind and he wore the same goofy smile as before. Zoro didn't need more than that as he threw himself forward. If the blond didn't care about his injuries, then Zoro wouldn't either. Well, he would avoid the places were he was most hurt, but at that moment, Sanji deserved a fist somewhere in his face. Swords or not, he could win a fight against a skinny blond.

The second before he crashed into Sanji, the other boy took his last chance to spin out a kick, but Zoro continued forward and both of them tumbled over a chair and on to the floor. Curses flew through the air and all the people in the cafeteria peeked over each others shoulders to get a glimpse of the improvised wrestling match.

Sanji begun to breath faster and faster, both because of the physical challenge it was to fight with injuries, but Zoro's presence, Zoro being so damn close, was helping a great deal too. Sanji wanted to scream his lungs out each time their bodies bruised, and when the green haired man's hand touched him, it started to blacken before his eyes, but he bit his lip and settled for kicking the shit out of him. His whole high-school future was heading downhill, and a panic attack wouldn't help him.

"Okay! What is happening here!"

And with those few words, the whole cafeteria froze, Zoro and Sanji included. The white haired old man walked through the crowd that had gathered around the two fighters, but just like Moses and the Red Sea every student moved aside. His white blazer rested only on his shoulders and when he strode forward, it followed his walk with wavy motions. His eyes looked out over the stunned students behind his round glasses, but it wasn't until he had stopped before them that he starred down on Zoro and Sanji.

"Principal Rayleigh...!" Zoro stuttered, an unusual sound. He stood on all his fours, fist hooked on Sanji's shirt. Sanji himself was on his back and held himself up and his elbows. He was the only one in the room who didn't look at Rayleigh with big deer eyes, his eyes fixed on the ceiling and his breathing labored.

"Would any of you mind telling me what's going on?" Rayleigh asked politely, and as nobody else took the call, Luffy stepped in with a big grin on his face.

"Zoro and Sanji started a fight." Pointing at them, he added: "That's the two of them." In the back ground, Nami face palmed at the bluntness.

"Mr. Roronoa, and Mr. Black?" he hummed as he looked down on them. Zoro had let go of Sanji and stood up, brushing of his hoodie, but Rayleigh focused on Sanji instead.

"Are you okay, Mr. Black? Mr. Black?" He never got any answer as Sanji, for the second time on two days, fainted.

"Shit, not again!" Zoro mumbled and dove down into a crouched position beside the blond.

"Not again?" Usopp asked, poking his nose out from beside principal Rayleigh.

Tapping his sandal clad foot, the old man stroke his beard and muttered something about kids these day, how they simply didn't have it in them, and how things were better back in the good old days when... Snapping out of it, he looked down at Sanji.

"Any pulse?"

When Zoro nodded seconds after, Rayleigh let out a sigh.

"Take him to the school nurse. And, Mr. Roronoa..." Zoro turned his attention back to the white haired man, and stared him straight into his eyes.

"I though we were clear on what would happen if you started fighting again..."

-o-o-o-

_A/N: So, finally, chapter nine is finished. I planned to finish this a long time ago, but stuff got in the way. I kinda lost my will to write for a while as my best friend for twelve years passed away in March. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my friends in school, my sister Linnea, my dear boyfriend Linus and my Choppery friend Maja. Big hugs to you! _

_And that was chapter nine, yeah! As stated on Livejournal; pretty fun to write. Once again, thanks to Maja for helping me with my Writer's Block (WB, not to be confused with Whitebeard). But I have to add that I know nothing about American schools except what I've seen in tv series. But, meh...I'll manage anyway, won't I? And, oh! If you are reading this on fanfiction, I can tell you that I have started a Livejournal with drabbles and other things. It get's updated a whole lot more over there, I tell you. It's listed as my homepage if you want to have a look. (slowsunrise. livejournal. com and just remove the spacing) _

_I promise to try to update faster next time, really! Huge hugs to everyone who have been waiting for this and reviewed during this awfully long time. Love to all of you!_


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